Two Is Better
by Lingua Dii
Summary: Someone crashed onto a Pokémon world. Is it friend or foe? Rated T for language. Sorry for the monumental delay.
1. Than One

I just wanted to point out that, while the main characters in this story have the same name as the ones in my previous Pokémon stories, they are **not** the same characters. I suck at naming characters, which is why their names are the same. It's one of the reasons, anyway. Another is that they're named the way they are for a reason, and I'd like to hold on to that. The characters are not even related in any way. Consider this an entirely separate universe from the other stories', if you feel the need to.  
Also, you may have noticed I don't go beyond gen IV. That's because I only know a handful of Pokémon from gens V and VI (mostly legendaries), as I haven't finished and started their games yet, respectively.  
Another "also", this time related to this story. The first story block spoils who the villain for this story is. I wrote it before that occurred to me, but kept it because I thought it sounded cool. If you don't want to have that character spoiled, just use your browser's search feature (usually accessed by pressing Ctrl+F, among other key combinations) to scroll down to the first instance of "Blaziken".

* * *

There are many worlds in the Universe. They are each inhabited by different beings, but one kind of being is favorited amongst all the others: Pokémon. They were created by Arceus, the very first Pokémon in existence. After springing forth from a cosmic egg, it created four dimensions; one for Dialga, the Pokémon created to govern all of time, one for Palkia, the Pokémon created to govern all of space, one for several hundred – perhaps thousand – of other kinds of Pokémon, and another one for Giratina, whose destructive tendencies forced Arceus to imprison it in a world where it could do nothing but watch the other Pokémon while maintaining the balance between dimensions, lest they all collapse. The Pokémon lived in harmony with their respective worlds and with nature.  
Then, something unexpected happen: humans appeared. They only existed in a tiny speck of a world in the Milky Way they named "Earth", yet Arceus believed they couldn't be trusted. They started off fairly peacefully: befriending Pokémon and asking for their help in some matters, which the Pokémon were glad to assist with. It wasn't long, though, before they invented devices to force Pokémon to live with them. Many Pokémon were glad to have a more permanent living arrangement, but the humans used the devices on wild Pokémon as well, who didn't want to be a part of their group – who distrusted all humans – and kept them around until their will broke. Some evil humans amassed armies of Pokémon to fight their wars for them. They didn't care about the Pokémon's safety. They just wanted power, and Pokémon were the way to get it.  
Eventually, humans tried to create Pokémon of their own. They succeeded with a Pokémon they named "Porygon", but that wasn't enough. While the creation act was a great success, the Pokémon itself proved unreliable in combat. They quickly turned to cloning already-existing Pokémon. "Improved versions", as they called them. After hundreds of failures all over the globe, they created one out of the DNA of the ancestor of all Pokémon: Mew. And they named it Mewtwo. Mewtwo didn't know why it had been born or why it existed. It only knew it didn't belong anywhere, so it killed its creators and retreated to an island. It considered controlling the entire Earth with its powers, and even tried to do so with an army of clones, but it was stopped by a pure-hearted trainer. It then retreated, never to be seen again. After several years, Mewtwo discovered one of the improvements the humans had given it when they created it – or perhaps inherited from its DNA source, Mew – was agelessness. It didn't know that, though, until it saw its friends, the other clones, die from old age. Its heart grew heavy with sadness, regret, but, above all else, anger. Anger at the humans for having created it. Anger at the humans for not having told it about the full extent of its abilities. Anger at Arceus for having allowed this to happen. It wanted to die; to join its friends. However, it was too scared to take its own life. Instead, once it found a new power within itself, it fled Earth. It was difficult for the Pokémon to get out of Earth's atmosphere at first, but, eventually, it managed to focus its psychic powers enough to create a temporary barrier to keep itself from freezing. It drifted across space for what felt like an eternity, passing by a star every once in a while, in order to warm itself up. As it traveled, its anger grew larger, quickly turning to hate. It wanted to go back to Earth and make the humans pay for what they'd done. It wanted to take on Arceus. It wanted revenge.

"_Humans... Arceus... You will feel my wrath. And this time... nothing will stop me._"

* * *

On a planet in the Milky Way galaxy, a Blaziken was locked in a room. Ice-cold water was pouring from the ceiling above him, yet the Blaziken felt no cold or discomfort. He was standing under the endless stream, with his face toward the ground and his eyes closed. After a few seconds, a Blastoise and a Glalie appeared in front of him. The Blastoise hesitantly fired continuous jets of water at him, while the Glalie, also hesitantly, cooled them down. Their target still showed no discomfort, nor did he open his eyes, move, or make any sort of sound. He eventually froze, much to everyone's surprise.

"I-Is he dead?" the Blastoise asked.

Water kept falling from above for several minutes, yet there was no reaction from the Blaziken. The other Pokémon became increasingly concerned, until the Blaziken began to glow red, getting brighter with each passing moment. After the Blaziken reached a certain temperature, the ice quickly began to melt away. It disappeared completely, yet he didn't stop getting brighter and hotter. Eventually, the water falling on top of him evaporated before it even touched his skin. The air around him became distorted from the heat, and the entire room felt like it was boiling. The other Pokémon instinctively shot water at him, but all they could do was slow down the Blaziken's progress. The room got even hotter, to the point that the floor beneath the Blaziken burst into flames. Finally, the Blaziken opened its eyes and spat a single, continuous, wide line of fire at his attackers. The point where the attacks connected generated enormous amounts of steam, which quickly filled the room, making it nearly impossible to see. The fire slowly advanced toward its intended targets and heated up the room even further.  
The Glalie was the first to succumb to the heat. He fell on the ground, yet his partner wouldn't give up. She redoubled her efforts, using both her cannons to triple her water output. The fire stopped moving forward, so the Blaziken pushed even harder. To conserve his strength, he stopped heating up the air around him to the point where the water crashing down only barely evaporated before touching him. This allowed for a greater burst of fire, giving him the advantage once again. His flames slowly pushed forward until they reached their target, who began to panic. She desperately tried to fight back, yet she couldn't. She tried to run away, but it was too late. Eventually, the fire evaporated the water she was producing before it even left her body. All that came out was steam. She finally collapsed with a loud thud, and the attack stopped.  
The Blaziken finally took a few steps forward, in the direction of his attackers. He helped them back up while the never-ending water cooled the room back down and cleared away the steam. All three Pokémon were impressed by the Blaziken's victory. The Glalie and Blastoise complimented him, but he simply smiled and nodded while his eyes jumped from one Pokémon to the other as they spoke.  
After a few minutes of nonstop compliments, a fourth party entered the room: a Lucario. The heat was just slightly bearable for him, yet he, like the Blaziken, showed no discomfort.

"Aw, man!" the Lucario yelled in disappointment. "Did I miss it?"  
"Yes, Max." the Blaziken replied. "You missed it."  
"Sorry, bro. I got up a little later than usual. Did you win?"  
"He sure did!" the Glalie said happily. "It was amazing! First we froze him, but then he managed to melt the ice and did this thing with the air – even the ground was on fire! And then-"  
"Calm down, Will... Excuse my friend. He gets a little too excited while fighting."  
"Amber, is it?"  
"Yup."  
"Don't **you** get excited while fighting? I've never met anyone who didn't. It's in our nature."  
"I try to keep emotion out of battles."  
"That's... unusual."  
"Emotion is weakness, Mr. Max. It makes you act recklessly."  
"Emotion is strength." the Blaziken intervened. "It all depends on your control over your emotional state. If you learn to master your emotions, you master yourself. And then your full potential will be unlocked."  
"I..."  
"How do you think I won? **You** had the advantage. It was two against one. More than that; you **froze** me. I should've lost... but I didn't."  
"What were you thinking about?" Amber asked.  
"I was just..."

The Blaziken looked at the three Pokémon around him. He didn't want to share his feelings, as he only knew Max well enough to know he wouldn't try to take advantage of them. Will and Amber were a different story. He didn't know if they could be trusted. Although Amber had shared her story with him, he was still unsure if it was the truth or just something she made up.

"I... I'll tell you some day. When you're older."  
"Aw, come on..." Will complained.

Amber knew exactly why the Blaziken wouldn't tell her or Will what he had focused on that allowed him to tap into his full potential. She was annoyed, but she tried to keep it to herself.

"It's fine, Will... If Mr. Blake doesn't want to tell us, it's his choice. Come on; let's go."

Will reluctantly went with his friend, who fought the urge to stomp out of the training building. As soon as they were out the door, Max turned to Blake.

"So... Just what **were** you thinking about?"  
"You know what..."

Max stared at Blake for a while, looking for confirmation that what he thought was true. When he felt Blake had confirmed it with his complex expression, he sighed.

"...I understand, Blake."

To emphasize his understanding and calm Blake down, Max quickly wrapped his arms around his friend, patting his back just hard enough to be heard over the still-crashing water and reach Blake's ears. Blake hesitantly reciprocated the action, though he only patted his friend's back hard enough for him to feel it. After almost ten seconds, they released each other.

"I'm hungry." Max said. "You gotta be hungry too, after that fight. Wanna go get some lunch? I know how much you love pasta."  
"S-Sure."  
"Let me just turn off that water..."

Max hit a switch on the wall, and the doors where the water was coming from closed, stopping its flow.

"Let's go!"

* * *

Several hundred miles away, something crashed onto Blake's world. It fell from far beyond the atmosphere as a ball of fire, similarly to a meteor. As it passed the cloud cover, light burst from it, and it fell even faster. It finally hit the ground with enough force to create a shockwave that bent the trees by several feet, breaking several of them outright. The creature was injured and boiling hot from re-entry, but mostly starving. It slowly rose, trying to adjust to its new environment while also being held back by its wounds.

"_This planet... The atmosphere is different... Thicker... Gravity's also stronger... It will take some time to adapt._"

This creature didn't go unnoticed by a pair of Pokémon – a Medicham and his child – that happened to be passing by. They saw the fireball and heard the explosion, being startled by them. Meteor crashes were very rare, given their planet's twin moons and relatively clear solar system. Their thick atmosphere also meant that most meteors simply disintegrated before they even reached the ground. For something to actually hit the ground meant that it would have to have been enormous in size.

"Daddy, what was that?"  
"I don't know, Jimmy... Stay here."  
"Wait, daddy-!"

The Medicham left his child's side and rushed to the crash site. There, he found a strange creature struggling to breathe, covered in wounds, in the middle of a crater. He rushed to its side to help, but was immediately pushed backward.

"Come no closer, Pokémon."  
"Poké-what? Look, I'm just trying to help. I'm Matt. Who are you?"  
"Y-You can speak?"  
"Of course! Why wouldn't I be able t-"  
"These Pokémon... They're not like the ones on... Then he... Hm..."  
"You're not making any sense. Just let me help you!"

Matt stepped forward again, yet the same strange force pushed him back even harder. Closing its eyes, Matt realized that the creature was the cause of this force. After this realization, he put more power into his legs and started moving forward very slowly.

"Stand back! I don't want to hurt you!"  
"Stop this! I just want to-"

The creature finally jumped toward the Medicham and kicked him in the head.

"Don't think my wounds will make your life any easier, Pokémon... I will fight you to the death, if it must be."  
"What in Arceus's name is a 'Pokémon'? And why do you want to fight? I only want to help you!"  
"Arceus... You know of him? ...It doesn't matter. If you follow him, you are my sworn enemy."  
"What? I don't-"  
"Prepare to fight, Pokémon."  
"Stop!"

The creature tossed a sphere of pure psychic energy at Matt, which only served to make him angry.

"If you want to fight... So be it."

Matt started running around the creature as quickly as he could, dodging every psychic blast it tossed his way.

"Stop moving!"

Without warning, Matt dashed toward the creature and struck it, coming out on behind it at the same distance he had been at when he was running around it. The creature dropped to one knee from the impact, making Matt think he had won.

"One punch and you're already on the ground?"  
"You're stronger than the others..."  
"What others?"  
"It's no surprise... This planet is hard to get used to. It makes sense that you'd be stronger."  
"**What** are you talking about?"  
"You'll find out soon enough..."

The creature stretched its arm and painfully lifted Matt off the ground telekinetically, crushing his body.

"Foolish Pokémon... You cannot defeat me."  
"Let me go!"  
"No."

The creature tossed Matt around for a while, making him crash against the ground and even trees, before finally tossing him away from exhaustion. Both beings recovered for a few seconds, before going back to their battle.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jimmy had become worried for his father and was searching for him. Hearing the sounds of battle, he headed toward their origin and found his father battling a strange gray creature. It was unlike anything the small Meditite had ever seen in his life, though he was very young, so it didn't surprise him. What did surprise him was that his father didn't seem to recognize the creature either. Not only that, but his father was outright losing. He was running around it in random patterns, boasting about his strength and speed, but Jimmy could tell his legs were about to give out. Finally, having figured out the extent of his target's abilities, Matt decided to outsmart it instead of outrunning it. He stopped for a few seconds to gather his strength, making the creature think it had finally exhausted him.

"Are you tired already? I can keep going forever."  
"I'm just surprised... I'm surprised you're so slow and pathetically weak."  
"What?!"

Matt's opponent tossed an enormous ball of psychic energy at him, but Matt simply dodged one last time and turned invisible.

"I am well aware of your abilities, Pokémon. There is nothing you can do that can surprise me."

The creature closed its eyes and tried to sense where Matt was. It could feel psychic energy from all around it due to its own attacks, but one particular spot caught its attention, as it was the only spot where the energy was significantly stronger than average. In addition, the spot kept moving around.  
The creature quickly deduced where Matt was and grabbed him telekinetically once again. Matt turned visible instantly as the creature slowly choked him.

"Let... me... go..."  
"No."

Matt felt himself become lightheaded and closed his eyes. The creature thought it had won, as did Jimmy, but Matt surprised both of them by suddenly reopening his eyes, which were now glowing white, and pushed it backward with a scream. The creature instinctively released him and protected itself as it rolled backwards. Once it stopped, it stared at Matt in pure amazement.

"That's not possible... No Medicham has ever been able to do that!"  
"Yeah, well... You're wrong."  
"I must study you further... This battle is over."

The creature blinked, and its eyes turned purple. Matt took a few steps away from it, but it was useless. He felt his mind going blank, until his son's voice made itself heard in his head. He looked around, trying to locate his son. The creature, being inside Matt's head, heard it too and also began searching for his son. Jimmy sensed the creature inside his father's head and immediately cut the link between himself and his father, teleporting away just before the duo found his location. The grass where Jimmy had stood was waving lazily, in spite of there being no wind. Yet the young Pokémon had not abandoned his father. He simply moved behind the creature and tried to figure out what to do.

"_I have to help my dad... I have to do **something**... I have to..._"

Jimmy watched as the creature looked in several random directions and returned its focus to his father. Matt looked at his son in desperation, terrified of whatever was happening to him. Jimmy knew what he had to do. It was something he had never done in his life as, according to his father, he was simply too young. However, he knew he had no choice if he wanted to help.

"_I have to get inside that... **thing**'s head... Right now._"

Jimmy closed his eyes and focused on the creature. It had strong mental barriers, but, thankfully, it was distracted with trying to control Jimmy's father. Jimmy was able to get past its psychic protection; a feat he immediately regretted having attempted. The flow of memories and emotions was overwhelming: first confusion, then anger, then pain, more anger, despair... It seemed that this creature had rarely, if ever, experienced any kind of positive emotion. Jimmy began to pity the creature, alerting it to his presence. It once again stopped what it was doing to Matt and searched for Jimmy, narrowly missing him as he finally teleported away from the forest.

"_There was something there..._" the creature thought. "_I know there was._"

"Do you know who or what was there?"

Matt slowly shook his head from side to side.

"Fine... You will obey me from now on, Pokémon. You will do as I command without question. If I tell you to kill, you will kill. If I tell you to destroy, you will destroy. If I tell you to acquire something for me, **you will not fail**. Do you understand?"  
"I... I..."  
"**Do you understand**?"

The creature's voice was all Matt could hear, especially inside his head. His own thoughts were drowned out by the angry, yet eerily soothing voice. His eyes rolled around, trying to focus on anything other than the creature, but everything else was blurry and cloudy beyond recognition.

"**Answer me**!"

Matt's eyes immediately jumped to the creature. It looked even angrier than before, completely blanking his mind. He blinked lazily, taking deep breaths, until he finally cracked.

"Y-Yes... Master."


	2. Than Two

Jimmy teleported himself all the way to the nearest city. Since he and his father were basically hermits, like most Meditite and Medicham, the boy had had little to no experience with small towns, much less large cities.  
He appeared in the middle of a busy street, nearly being hit by a passing vehicle. He quickly jumped to the sidewalk and approached the first Pokémon he saw. Jimmy started blabbing about a creature attacking and doing something to his father, but the Pokémon thought he was insane and dismissed him as such. The same thing happened with the second and third Pokémon Jimmy spoke to. The boy was growing more desperate by the second. He eventually started screaming at the top of his lungs, recounting his story for everyone to hear. When he realized nobody was paying attention, he broke down into tears. Will and Amber happened to be passing by and heard him, yet Amber just kept on walking, as she was still angry at Blake. Will, on the other hand, hovered over to the weeping Pokémon and tapped his shoulder. Jimmy felt the icy horn and jumped, immediately adopting a battle stance.

"Calm down." Will said. "I'm not going to hurt you."  
"W-Who are you?"  
"My name's William. What's yours?"  
"I-I'm Jimmy." Jimmy sobbed.  
"Why were you crying earlier?" Will asked as Amber approached the duo. "We heard you scream, but we couldn't understand anything you were saying."  
"M-My dad was... H-He was... Something **attacked** him, a-and... I tried to help him, but..."

Jimmy couldn't keep a thought in his head for more than the time it took him to utter a few words related to it. To him, everything seemed to be going at a much slower rate than usual; almost as if the world around him was standing still. He wanted to speak at a normal pace, but the adrenaline pumping through his veins wouldn't let him. He started to hyperventilate, so Will tried to calm him down further.

"Deep breaths, Jimmy. Calm down. You need to tell us what happened so that we can help you."

Jimmy couldn't hear Will over his own heavy breathing. Amber rolled her eyes, tapping Will's shoulder.

"Whoever this kid is, he's obviously beyond reason. Let's just go."  
"You wanna just **leave** him here?"  
"I... No."  
"Let's take him somewhere safe, like the park or whatever. Stay with him until he calms down."  
"Will..."  
"He could be in real trouble. Meditite don't usually show up here. They prefer to stay in forests and mountains and stuff like that. He said something about his dad; that he was **attacked**. We've gotta help him."

Amber tried desperately to figure out what to do, yet her mind kept going back to Blake's refusal to tell her the truth and the reason behind it. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.

"Maybe Max can help."  
"Max?"  
"Sure. He can manipulate aura, right? Maybe he can calm this kid down, or at least talk to him or something."  
"I don't think aura works that way..."  
"What do **you** suggest then? Do you know any psychics? They're either hermits or basically live in their labs."  
"Alright... Do you know where Max lives?"  
"Of course not! Today was the second time I met him."  
"We **could**... take him to Blake."

Amber's eyes widened at the mere mention of Blake. She clenched her fists reflexively; an action Will noticed but ignored for Jimmy's sake.

"He **is** Max's friend, right? **He** probably knows where Max lives."  
"I know..."  
"Should we go then?"  
"...Fine. Come on, kid."

Jimmy didn't really know what to do or say. He was so scared that he simply went along with Will and Amber.

* * *

When the trio arrived at Blake's house, he wasn't there.

"Where do you think they went?"  
"Maybe... they went to get something to eat? It **is** past lunchtime."  
"How are we supposed to find them? The city's a big place."  
"What's the closest place to the training building?"  
"Um... I think it's a block away from there."  
"Let's go then."

* * *

As soon as the Pokémon arrived at the restaurant, Blake and Max were already leaving contentedly. Max happened to look at where the other three Pokémon were, immediately recognizing Amber.

"Say, isn't that Amber?"  
"What? Where?"  
"Over there."

Blake looked to where Max was pointing and realized that he was right. Will, Amber, and Jimmy quickly approached the duo and introduced Jimmy to them, though Jimmy wouldn't speak.

"It's OK, Jimmy." Amber said reassuringly. "You can trust them."  
"I-I... Uh... Ah... I... M-My dad..."

Jimmy had never been around so many strangers at once. He panicked. His heart began to pump erratically, his breathing went out of control, and he could even feel like he was about to teleport involuntarily.

"Mr. Max, this isn't working." Will said. "We need you to help."  
"What can **I** do?"  
"Can't you just... I dunno, feel his aura or something and read his mind?"  
"I... don't know. I've never tried something like that before."  
"You don't know? Didn't you go to, like... aura school or something?"

Blake, Max, and Amber traded looks. Max sighed at Will's ignorant statement, yet still answered his question.

"Look... there's a **lot** they don't teach you at 'aura school', and this is one of those things. They said it was forbidden. Something about lack of control..."  
"Then what are we supposed to do? We need to talk to him, and he's freaking out."  
"We could just wait a while before trying to probe his mind, you know."  
"How long? He said his dad's in trouble, and you know psychics don't usually leave their labs or mountains, so the fact that he's here means it's big, at least to him."

Max turned to Jimmy, getting on one knee to lower himself to the boy's eye level so as to appear smaller and less frightening.

"Jimmy, please tell me what happened."  
"I-I, um... I was out with m-my dad..."  
"What else?"  
"Th-There was this..."

Jimmy's speech became incomprehensible from that point on. He mumbled for nearly a full minute before shutting down completely. Everyone but Max started arguing loudly about what to do. To everyone else, they looked like lunatics yelling in the middle of the street. Only Max was entirely focused on Jimmy. He desperately wanted to help the boy. Seeing Jimmy curl up into a ball and cover his ears with his hands, Max knew what he had to do.

"This isn't working..." Max thought. "I gotta try."

Finally, Max placed one hand on the young Pokémon's forehead. Jimmy was scared, but he didn't move. Max closed his eyes and tried talking to the boy without speaking. Unsurprisingly for Max, it didn't work. The other Pokémon were still arguing amongst themselves, and hadn't even noticed what Max was doing. He tried creating a link between himself and the boy again, this time by focusing on his aura. Like Max, Jimmy – or at least Medicham in general – could manipulate aura. They shared an affinity for it, so a link should be possible, even if they weren't the same species.  
Max eventually succeeded, although he could feel his control over the link was weak. Time stood still for the two, except their thoughts, which kept racing and flowed from one to the other. Jimmy became even more frightened at the sudden intrusion of his mind. He tried erecting psychic barriers to guard himself from mind control, but Max quelled his fears.

"Calm down, Jimmy. I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you, but, first, you need to tell me what happened."

Jimmy tried opening his mouth to speak, yet he couldn't. His entire body was frozen in place. His eyes wouldn't move, he couldn't blink; he couldn't even breathe, yet he didn't feel like he was suffocating.

"Don't try to move, Jimmy. You can't do that right now. Calm down. Just think, and I will listen."

While Max was speaking to Jimmy, the boy sensed his good nature. Before, with his brain overstimulated, he had been unable to use his psychic powers willingly. Now, however, with nothing but Max's mind, he could finally see what he had been unable to. Jimmy did as Max asked; soon enough, thoughts, images, memories, and feelings began to flow from the boy's mind to Max's.

"My name is James. I am 13 years old. I was born a Meditite. My father's called Matthew. He is 36 years old. He is a Medicham. My mother was... killed in a freak accident three years ago."

Jimmy's emotions began to cloud Max's mind and weaken his control over the link further, so he decided to change the subject slightly, even though that would probably have the same outcome, if not a worse one.

"Tell me more about your father. What happened to him?"  
"We were out hiking, like we always are. We were looking for berries and stuff like that to eat. Then... **it** appeared. It crashed from above. We saw a burning trail, like a meteor, then some kind of explosion of light which only seemed to speed it up even more. Then it crashed. We heard a loud boom sound and felt the air push everything back. My dad... My dad told me to wait while he checked out whatever had made all that. When I got there... there was... something... attacking him... It was taking over his mind; I could feel it... I just wanted to help my dad..."  
"What did you do?"  
"I... I pierced into the creature's mind and probed its thoughts. I felt its pain, anger, betrayal... The negative emotions had no end in sight. It believes itself to be superior to us, who it calls 'Pokémon'."  
"I see..."  
"There was something else..."  
"What?"  
"The creature's name... Mewtwo."

At the mere mention of the creature's name, the emotions that streamed from Jimmy's brain became stronger than before. These weren't just his thoughts, memories, emotions, and experiences; they were also Mewtwo's. The link's strength increased exponentially, to the point where Max felt that, if he proceeded any further, his mind would effectively merge with Jimmy's – as well as the small piece of Mewtwo's that was stuck in the boy's mind – forcing Max to break the link entirely.  
Back in real time, Max dropped to his knees, panting from exhaustion, while Jimmy passed out entirely.

"What did you do to him?!" Amber yelled in anger and concern while she grabbed Jimmy.  
"He... He's OK." Max panted. "He's just tired. He'll wake up in a few hours."  
"You OK, bro?" Blake said as he helped Max get back on his feet.  
"I... I saw what he saw. I felt what he felt... What **it** felt. At least while it was connected to Jimmy."

Max tried standing on his own, but he nearly collapsed. If it hadn't been for Blake's lightning reflexes, he would've dropped to the ground entirely.

"'It'? What's 'it'?"  
"The thing that attacked Jimmy's father. Its name is Mewtwo."  
"What kind of stupid name is that?"  
"I don't know... But it's more powerful than any of us."  
"You mean like... the four of us, or...?"  
"I mean more powerful than anyone or anything on this planet."

The conscious Pokémon all stared at Max for several seconds questioningly. He seemed very certain of what he had just said, and the fear in his eyes was directly proportional to the gravity of what he had just said. After everyone accepted Max's statement, Will finally broke the tense silence.

"We've gotta tell someone about this."  
"Tell who?" Amber asked. "All we've got is Jimmy. He's a good kid, but that won't prove anything."  
"I can show them." Max said. "I can show them, like Jimmy showed me."  
"How? Connect Jimmy to them? He passed out just from being connected to **you**, and I can tell you're exhausted, so you won't be able to do it either."  
"We just need **someone** to believe us, like Will said. We have to tell this to the police."  
"And what are **they** supposed to do? Didn't you just say it was stronger than anything on this planet?"  
"By themselves, yes. Together, though... we can win. It's powerful, but it can't win against even a small-sized, well-trained army."  
"You want to tell the cops to raise an **army** to stop Mewtwo?"  
"Small one." Max spat reassuringly and jokingly.  
"This is no time for jokes, Mr. Max. I'm not sure they even have that many officers. It's not like crime is a big deal here."  
"I know... I'm not joking because I think it's funny. I'm just... very nervous."

Blake knew that "nervous" was just Max's euphemism for "scared shitless". However, he let Will and Amber believe it, since he knew they wouldn't ask questions about it.  
Before Amber agreed to the idea of going to the police for help, she had one last thing on her mind.

"Do you think the four of us can beat Mewtwo?"  
"I..."

Max could tell that this wasn't about Mewtwo at all, but about Amber's pride. If he told her what she wanted to hear, she might try to take on Mewtwo by herself and would either die or be captured. If he said no, he'd have a Pokémon about twice his size angry at him. If he had been well-rested, he could've easily taken her, but, at his current state, he wasn't so sure. Max decided to tell her the truth, for her own sake.

"No. I don't think we can. Mewtwo is powerful beyond anything I've seen."

Despite what Max had thought, Amber took his advice seriously. She dropped the issue and instead focused on Jimmy.

"What do we do about him?"

Blake and Max glanced at each other. They knew what the other was thinking and coordinated themselves without saying a word.

"First let's go to the police." Blake said. "Then we'll decide. Can you carry him?"

Amber sighed wearily, picking up Jimmy into her large arms.

"I'm sure I can carry someone as small as him without much trouble."  
"OK... Let's go then. Come on, bro."

Max pretended to be slightly weaker than he really was so he and Blake could stay a few feet behind the other three Pokémon and speak freely.

"You know what we've gotta do, right?" Max said.  
"Of course. Why do you think I said we should go to the police? There's no way they'll believe us... But... you **did** say even the four of us couldn't take on Mewtwo. How are **we** supposed to?"  
"We're not gonna challenge Mewtwo. It'd rip us apart in a second. We're just going to check it out."  
"Check what out?"  
"The crash site."  
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"  
"We're just gonna have a quick look. It's not like Mewtwo will be there, waiting for us. It has no idea we're coming. It probably left that area a long time ago."  
"Well, at least that's better than what I thought you wanted to do..."  
"Guys, let's try to pick up the pace, alright?" Amber said loudly.  
"Alright!" the duo replied.

* * *

The five Pokémon arrived at the police station after about five minutes of walking. Everyone along the way gave them weird looks, due to Amber carrying an unconscious Meditite and Blake helping Max with walking, even though he didn't seem to be injured in any way.  
They approached the front desk, being greeted by an overly excited Smeargle.

"Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello!"

"_Did he just say hello to all five of us one at a time?_" everyone thought.

"My name's Sam. How may I help you?"  
"Um..." Amber said awkwardly. "We found this kid, and-"  
"You want us to try to find his parents?"  
"That's the thing..." Max explained. "We know his mother is... well... dead."  
"Oh..."  
"But his dad is alive, or at least he was the last time they saw each other." Amber added.  
"What do you mean?"

Amber explained the situation to the Smeargle, who used his tail to take notes as his face and demeanor quickly changed to reflect his increasingly serious mood. After the explanation, he told the group to wait, going deeper into the precinct.

"What do you think he's gonna do?" Will asked.  
"Probably just talking to one of his superiors." Blake deduced.

* * *

Blake was right. A few seconds later, Sam re-appeared, followed by a large Machamp wearing several badges on his chest and with an unhappy look on his face. The Machamp outpaced Sam and quickly approached the group, startling all of them.

"_What the fuck?_" Max thought. "_Are we gonna get attacked?_"

Blake had the same idea as Max and clenched his fists in preparation for a fight. However, Sam ran toward them and explained the situation.

"Hey, guys. This is the chief."  
"Call me Adam. I hear you found a kid and want to drop him off here?"  
"What?! No!" Amber yelled.  
"Um... We just need you to find his dad." Will explained.  
"I see... How do you know he's even missing?"  
"Well, Jimmy told us." Amber replied.  
"...He seems to be unconscious. Did you hurt him?"  
"He's just tired." Amber retorted.

_In response, Adam poked Jimmy's cheek several times before Amber pulled him away._

_"You OK, kid? ...He's not waking up."  
"That's because he's __**tired**__."_

Amber didn't like Adam's attitude one bit. Her feelings were blatantly obvious to everyone around them, including Sam, though the police chief just disregarded them as civilian paranoia. He knew he had an abrasive personality and appearance. Just about everyone feared him. He was just trying to do his job the best way he knew how, though. He often second-guessed himself regarding the way he dealt with people, but always concluded that his way worked best.

"Hm... Well, where was his father the last time the kid saw him?"  
"He was in the mountains, but there's something else... Jimmy believes his father was... mind-controlled by some kind of creature."  
"A creature? All psychics are sentient, as far as we know. And don't start giving me shit about ghosts. There's no such thing."  
"Right... Thing is, this creature didn't... come from here."  
"Oh? Pray tell – where **did** it come from?"  
"Um... Outer space?"

Sam's eyes widened. He had always suspected there was life on other planets, but almost no one payed much attention to his ideas. The police chief was constantly squinting his eyes while his mouth twitched involuntarily, before bursting out laughing.

"Come on, **aliens**? Is this a prank? Are there cameras here? Because you should know I have better things to do than entertain the public. My job is to **protect** them."  
"And we're telling you, right now, that the public is in danger. Jimmy felt the creature's power. It's more powerful than anything and anyone on this planet."  
"And how would a little kid know that? It's not like he's met many people."  
"Well, it's what Max concluded."  
"I thought the kid's the one who had seen this creat- What's it even called, anyway?"  
"Max linked his mind with Jimmy's somehow. And its name is Mewtwo."

Adam burst out laughing again.

"That is, quite possibly, the single **dumbest** name I've ever heard. Look, let me give you a little tip: if you want to convince us of stuff like this, at least make it believable."  
"We can show you!"  
"How?"  
"If you'll just allow Max to link minds with you, may-"  
"I can't do that, Amber. You have no idea how exhausting that was."  
"It'll just be for a few seconds, Max. If you don't try, who knows what-"  
_"I'm not 'linking minds' with anyone." Adam interrupted angrily. "My mind is my own, and I don't know you people. Now get out of here."_

Adam turned around, headed back to his office. The group couldn't believe it. Amber wanted to challenge him to a fistfight and show him that they were serious, but there was no need. Sam hesitantly spoke up for them.

"U-Um... Sir?"  
"Yes, Samuel?" Adam sighed angrily as he turned around.  
"I-I... I believe them."

Amber smiled. Perhaps there was still hope. Her hopes were short-lived, however, as Adam burst out laughing again.

"Really? Then maybe you'd like to check it out, Samuel."  
"M-Me? No, no; I-I'm just a receptionist. I don't do that sort of thing."  
"You're a cop. Start acting like one and go check it out."  
"B-But, sir-!"  
"That's final. Now go."

Adam finally left their sight, leaving Sam shocked and terrified. Will approached him, trying to comfort the officer.

"Is he always like that?"  
"H-He... He doesn't... I have to check it out."

Sam grabbed his backpack, which had a few devices that would help him find his way to the precise place in the forest he needed to go and back, and headed for the door. Will floated after him, stopping him just before he left the precinct.

"Sam, he can't make you do that. Let us come with you."  
"He knows what he's doing; trust me. The chief may seem like a bully, but he wouldn't send me out there unless he was sure there was no danger."  
"But we know there **is** danger. You know it too. Whatever took Matt could still be out there."  
"That's why I have to go. I intend to prove him wrong."

Without saying another word or giving Will the chance to retort, Sam finally left. While Amber stared at Will, Blake and Max glanced at each other and nodded.

"Say, Amber... Since Sam is going to check it out, why don't you take Jimmy to your house and take care of him? I'll take Max home so he can rest too."  
"Are you sure? Sam doesn't really seem all that strong. If Mewtwo is as strong as Max said, he's screwed."  
"I doubt he'll find anything. He forgot to ask for directions."  
"What if he gets lost?"  
"He had a GPS in his backpack. He'll be fine."  
"Alright... Let's go, Will."

Will and Amber said their goodbyes, while Blake and Max reciprocated before heading home. Once the others were out of sight, Max stood on his own.

"You sure you're well enough to stand?"  
"Relax. I'm OK. I'd be more worried about Sam. If he doesn't make a beeline for the crash site, he might actually run into Mewtwo."  
"What do we do? We don't know where he's going."  
"Then again, he might not find anything at all... I mean, the forest is a big place, and Mewtwo might not even be there anymore."  
"And you wanna just... bet his life on that?"  
"I doubt Mewtwo would kill him. He's not a threat."  
"Let's just go and check it out anyway. We can still catch him if we hurry."  
"I-I think he'll be fine. We should wait."

Blake knew Max better than anyone, yet this behavior was irrational and an aberration. Max had never been one to leave others in harm's way.

"Are you scared?"  
"What? Why would you say that?"  
"Because I know you. You told Amber you were nervous when you started joking about telling the cops to raise a 'small' army."  
"So?"  
"You were scared."  
"That's not-"  
"You were scared then, and you're scared now. Just admit it."  
"I'm not scared. Sam will be fine. Let's just go. I need to rest."  
"Alright..." Blake conceded.

* * *

Blake's fears for Sam's well-being turned out to be justified. After wandering around aimlessly for several hours, Sam found the path of destruction, which everyone else had forgotten about. Following it, he managed to find the place where Mewtwo had crash-landed on their world.

"Ha! I knew it! The chief was wrong! I'll just take a picture to prove it... Better get closer, though."

As soon as Sam approached the crater beyond a certain point, Mewtwo sent its new puppet, Matt, to kill him. Matt attacked without hesitation or regard for either of their safeties, and in complete silence. He threw a single aura-charged punch, blowing Sam back until he fell on the collapsed trees. Sam spit out some blood, but quickly regained his composure, tossing his backpack away in order to fight without being hindered by its weight.

"Are you Matt?" Sam asked.

Matt hesitated for a second upon hearing his own name from someone he had never seen. However, Mewtwo quickly tightened its grip on the Medicham's mind and forced him to resume attacking. Sam defended himself as best as he could, but he was considerably lacking in both speed and power. The only chance he had was his ability to copy any and all attacks. As soon as Matt threw a punch that was unusually strong, even if he got hit, Sam copied it and quickly returned it, albeit in a less powerful form. He eventually tried copying every move he could, even if it was weaker than average, as even weak punches from Matt were still en par with Sam's own. Matt quickly resorted to turning invisible and attacking from any direction, then jumping over his opponent before he could react. Sam also tried turning invisible, although it took several tries to get it right. Eventually, however, Sam succumbed to his much stronger and faster opponent. As he lain on the ground, with Matt preparing a final blow, he pleaded for his attacker to stop.

"Matt, I'm here to **help** you. Your **son** is looking for you."  
"M-My son?"

Matt's eyes, which had been glowing a very light shade of blue before, slowly returned to their regular black. Sam finally realized that Matt was not acting of his own free will.

"Yes, your son. Little Jimmy? He's safe. I want to take you to him, if you'll let me."

Matt stopped dead in his tracks. He could hear Mewtwo's voice in the back of his head, yelling at him, ordering him to finish the job. He felt himself beginning to lose control again. Before he lost it entirely, Matt convinced Mewtwo that it would be best to keep Sam alive. He told it that Sam was a cop, and that the police could then be turned to Mewtwo's side. Mewtwo hesitated, then teleported in front of Sam.

"Y-You're... Mewtwo..."  
"Yes I am. And you are a Smeargle, are you not?" Mewtwo asked, prompting Sam to nod. "A pitiful species. You have no power of your own, so you copy what others can do. Poorly so. Very poorly." it added with disdain.  
"And what power do **you** have?"

Mewtwo grinned evilly and chuckled.

"**All of it**." Mewtwo replied in a deep voice while making its eyes glow purple.

Mewtwo's sudden change in voice and appearance scared Sam more than his current situation. He ignored that fear, though, and decided to try to get more information before trying to escape.

"What do you want?"  
"I want your world. I intend on conquering it and getting my revenge on those that betrayed me, starting with humans."  
"Humans?"  
"On another world, humans enslaved ou- **your** kind – Pokémon. They call you pets and force you to do battle against one another."  
"Why 'Pokémon'?"  
"It is a reference to the means by which they enslave you. You are Pocket Monsters. Nothing more than beasts of burden to be captured and brainwashed into loving your 'masters'. They place you inside tiny spheres that can fit in their pockets, and carry you around until they decide to use your power for themselves."  
"Why do they do that?"  
"Who knows? Humans don't explain themselves to you. You are deemed to be... inferior. I aim to prove them wrong."

Sam wasn't so sure about Mewtwo's moral status anymore. If what it was saying was true, its rage was justified. Although it had avoided lumping itself and other Pokémon together, Sam could tell Mewtwo was one of them.  
Having regained his strength somewhat, Sam decided to ask one last question before trying to escape and tell his boss everything.

"What do you want to do with them? The humans, I mean?"  
"Starting to see things my way, I see... Very well. I intend on wiping their planet from existence. Nothing will be left but space debris."  
"What about all the... the Pokémon?"  
"They're better off dead than being enslaved by the humans."  
"You'd wipe out an entire planet of your own kind?"  
"You are **not** my kind. I am beyond you."

Sam's doubts disappeared at Mewtwo's statements. Its disregard for any life but its own was clear.  
Sam finally decided to make his move. He turned invisible and ran, leaving his backpack behind, yet Mewtwo simply levitated everything – the collapsed trees, broken rocks, dust, and even the ground – around itself for several feet. Sam was caught in the psychic bubble, quickly turning visible before attempting some ranged attacks. The attacks were easily deflected by Matt, however, whose eyes were once again glowing light blue.

"What did you do to him?" Sam asked angrily.  
"This creature? He had the honor of being my first convert. His mind is mine to do as I please, and, with it, his body. He was a tough one to crack, due to his psychic powers, but I always get what I want."  
"That's why... he hesitated. You don't fully control him, do you?"  
"Of course I do. Watch. Matt, punch the ground as hard as you can."

Matt immediately did as Mewtwo commanded, cracking the ground and creating a small, fist-sized hole.

"Like I said, he was tough to crack, but he's mine now... I'm betting you won't put up much of a fight, though."  
"M-Me?"  
"Yes... You are a police officer, are you not?"  
"H-How..."  
"Your uniform. Matt recognized it and told me what it meant... I could use a servant in the police..."  
"No! Stay away!" Sam said as he struggled against Mewtwo's telekinetic iron grip.  
"Too late."

Mewtwo quickly entered Sam's mind, probing it avidly, searching for anything that might be important to it. It found memories of Matt's son, as well as Blake, Max, Will, and Amber, though the officer didn't know half of their names or their abilities. It also found a map of the city Sam resided in and information on Adam and other police officers.

"_This creature is proving to be most useful._" Mewtwo thought. "_The pink one barely knew which way was up. Damned hermits... All he was good for was fighting._"

Once Mewtwo felt confident it had extracted every bit of relevant information from Sam's head, Mewtwo finally took over entirely. Sam's consciousness slowly melted away while he struggled, until there was nothing left but Mewtwo's will. At that point, Sam stopped moving, exhaling calmly. Mewtwo gently placed him on the ground.

"Now... What is your mission?"  
"To serve Mewtwo."  
"Good. Go back to your city. Tell your captain that you found nothing."

Sam nodded agreeably.

"If those other Pokémon ask, tell them the same thing. And if anyone asks about the wounds, tell them... that you fell down a hill. Now go."

Without saying another word, Sam started making his way back to the police station.

* * *

About an hour later, Sam arrived at the city. Once he finally entered the station, he was quickly taken to a hospital, where his wounds were taken care of. Adam was there, along with several more officers, and, although Sam's wounds weren't fatal, Adam was regretting having sent Sam on his own into the forest.

"Sam, you OK? Did you find Mew- what you were looking for?"  
"I... There was nothing there."  
"What about these wounds? They're pretty serious."  
"I fell... down a hill."  
"What? You fell down a hill and fractured a rib? How did that happen?"  
"...I'd really like to be alone now. Please leave."  
"S-Sure... Come on; let's give him some room."

As soon as the officers left Sam's hospital room, Mewtwo contacted him telepathically.

"Good job, Sam... Remember, report back regularly. I want to know what's going on in there. Also... send me some scientists. I have much to do."


	3. Than Three

Blake wanted to visit Mewtwo's crash site the following morning, but Max wouldn't have it. He claimed he was still tired, and even though Blake was certain he was simply scared, he let his friend be. Days flew by, then weeks, yet Max kept making up increasingly flimsier excuses, and Blake pretended to believe them. After hearing about the sudden increase in missing Pokémon, however, Blake couldn't hold back his tongue any longer. He slammed the wall closest to him, to get Max's attention, and started yelling at him.

"What the fuck is your problem? Sam went out there and nearly **died**! Other people are being kidnapped! You and I **both** know that's Mewtwo's doing!"  
"M-Maybe, but it's just as likely that-"  
"No! Don't even **dare** give me another one of your **bullshit** excuses! **I'm** going out there tomorrow morning, with or without you. If you still care, meet me in the road leading into the forest. If not..."  
"...What?"  
"You know what."

Max didn't know what Blake meant, but then neither did Blake. He was simply trying to push his friend past his fear, simultaneously reminding him of his moral obligation to help, and that was mostly in the way he said things, rather than what he was actually saying. After a few seconds, Max concluded Blake meant that if he was hurt or worse, it would be Max's fault. The idea finally managed to restore his confidence, and he agreed to help just as Blake was angrily walking out of Max's house.

"...I'll go with you."  
"Really?" Blake asked, incredulous, as he turned around and walked toward Max "No more excuses, no more delays?"  
"Yes. I promise."  
"...Thank you. Pack your things. Meet me where I told you just before sunrise."

Blake faced the exit again, quickly realizing he had slammed the wall too hard and cracked it.

"And, uh... I'll... fix this wall when we get back." Blake said, embarrassed.  
"Better hire someone else to do it." Max retorted jokingly.  
"Fine..."

"_This is going to cost me..._"

* * *

The following morning, Blake waited for Max to show up at their agreed meeting spot. When Max didn't show up for about half an hour after he was supposed to, Blake sighed angrily.

"_I knew it... Coward._"

Just as he was about to leave, Max showed up, carrying a large backpack.

"Wait up!"

Max sprinted toward his friend, nearly tripping several times along the short run.

"I'm really sorry. I couldn't decide what to bring."  
"I can see that... You know we're not going to be gone for long, right? We should be back before sunset."  
"I know, but... I wanted to make sure nothing happened."  
"...What did you bring?"  
"Bandages, food, water, sleeping bags, maps, GPS, flashlights..."

As Max went on to describe the seemingly never-ending list of objects he had packed, Blake wondered how he had even managed to fit all of them into a single backpack. By the time he was finished, Blake was already sitting down – on a bench Max had brought with him – having realized that his words didn't really serve to dispel Max's fears; merely conceal them temporarily.

"What do you think?"  
"I think you're overly cautious. We're not walking into a battlefield; we're just scouting."  
"Well, what did **you** bring?"  
"Some sandwiches, water, and a map. It's all in here."  
"Only 'some sandwiches'? What if we get lost?"  
"We have a map."  
"What if we lose the map?"  
"Then we're fucked." Blake spat angrily. "Come on, let's go."

Max wanted to protest, yet he also wanted to keep his promise. In the end, Blake took a few steps toward the forest, and Max reluctantly followed.

* * *

The two Pokémon wandered deep into the forest for hours, guided by Jimmy's blurry memories inside Max's mind, until they reached their destination. Max had fallen several times during their trek, due to the massive weight of his backpack, prompting Blake to sigh wearily each and every time, while he helped him get back up.  
They had been hearing strange noises for a while, and it soon became clear why. The crater in Max's imagination was now a tunnel so deep that the bottom wasn't visible. The area around it had also been heavily modified: where there once were trees, now solar panels on rough ground reigned; where there once were green prairies, now stood tall machines meant to drill into the ground for an unknown purpose. Blake thought they were meant to harvest resources, but Max said they were probably being used to expand the tunnels by creating air holes where needed, as the forest didn't have many natural resources beneath it. All in all, there was no way to know more without moving closer. They both knew it, yet Max wanted to turn around.

"Alright, we've seen it. Let's go." Max spat.  
"What?"  
"We've seen everything. We need to go back."  
"Max..."  
"We don't have the resources to stay here for long, remember?"  
"Actually, we do, thanks to **your** backpack."

Seeing that Max was growing scared by the second, Blake decided to calm him down.

"Relax. Nothing's going to happen, as long as we're quiet. There are no cameras here, see?" Blake said reassuringly as he pointed to the clearing. "We'll leave our stuff here, take a closer look, get back, take our stuff, and leave."  
"I-I don't-"  
"Chill. We can run quickly enough to escape. It'll be fine; trust me. Come on."

Blake took off his backpack before helping a reluctant Max to do the same. First, they scouted the area – they circled the clearing, getting a good idea of the empty spaces between the machines. Afterward, they met back at their supplies and drew a map on the ground of what they had seen.

"If we go here..."  
"No; that's too close to the entrance. We'll be right out in the open if someone leaves. We should head here."  
"There? We'll be backed into a corner if we're discovered!"  
"Can't you jump very high?"  
"Sure, but if they take us by surprise, we're screwed. Besides, even if I **had** time to react, it's not like I can teleport. That place is in the middle of the clearing! Let's just go with my idea."  
"...Fine." Max whispered angrily.

The two Pokémon carefully approached the facility's entrance, trying to get a peek inside, but the tunnel seemed to go on forever. The machines around them had strange, glowing marks, as if they were pulsing with energy. Blake briefly wondered if the machines were actually absorbing the energy around them. He felt weaker just being around the glowing machines, as did Max, so they both moved further inside – closer to the entrance.  
Max was getting nervous: he told Blake he could feel other beings' aura around them and even attempted to show him, but Blake was too focused on the entrance to notice. To get his attention, Max shook Blake.

"What?!"  
"There are others here! I can feel them."  
"How is that possible? We didn't see anyone when we scouted this clearing!"  
"Well, they're here now. We should leave."  
"Max, we can't-"

Before Blake could even finish his thoughts, some light cracking sounds were heard, like someone stepping on branches from the fallen trees. It didn't look like anyone had been trying to hide from them either; in fact, it didn't look like their presence had been noted. Nevertheless, someone was approaching, and there was only one way to go – down, into the secret facility.

"We've gotta move." Blake spat urgently.

Blake grabbed Max's arm and dragged him inside, narrowly missing the other Pokémon who had been attracted by his last comment.  
Inside the tunnel, Blake and Max found an interactive map of the facility. They looked at the area around them, as well as a few nearby exits, then tried to get a better notion of the rest of the complex. However, as soon as Max touched it, the map shut down, while the alarm was activated.

"What did you do?!"  
"I don't know! We have to get out of here!"

Max's first instinct was to go back, toward the entrance, yet it was automatically closed and bolted shut. He threw aura spheres at it while Blake spat white-hot flames, yet neither attack so much as scratched the enormous gate. He finally resorted to punching it several times, before trying to pull it open, and finally giving up.

"What's this thing made of?" Max said, panicking.  
"There was another exit deeper inside. We need to go there."  
"What we **need** to do is bust open this door."  
"How? We tried, it didn't work. Look!" Blake said as he pointed at the door. "There's not a scratch on it. An exit is better than no exit. Let's go."  
"If we keep heading further in..."  
"We'll be fine. If Mewtwo were here, it'd have come for us already, and we can handle everything else. Come on."

When Max didn't move right away – out of fear, perhaps – Blake tried pushing him into action once again.

"We don't have time to argue! If we don't move, we're definitely dead."

Max was relieved when the large door was opened with a loud clang, until he felt some Pokémon on the other side.

"Run!"

Max ran past Blake, who followed without question. Looking back, he saw the four Pokémon Max had felt – Scizor, Sneasel, Metagross, and Skarmory – chasing them, which only made him run faster.  
The corridor was much longer than the map had led them to believe, and there were several rooms on their path. One had several – presumably kidnapped – scientists mindlessly working on something called the "UMS project", seemingly unaware of their presence or the alarm. Blake was able to gleam the words "Universal Mega", but he didn't understand what that meant. There was a large, glowing stone in the center of the room that he hadn't even noticed. It was the size of his head, with glowing rainbow streaks.  
Max, meanwhile, managed to read the name of a different project in a separate room; even glance at the project itself. It was entitled "Warship", and was exactly what its name indicated: a large vessel, capable of carrying several hundred troops, if not more. Looking downward, Max realized it wasn't the only one. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of such ships littered an hangar beneath the research room. There were too many to conquer their world, nor was there even any need for them on their planet – most islands were too small to sustain a population large enough to be any sort of threat. Upon closer inspection, Max realized they were not airships, but spaceships. It made him curious as to what Mewtwo intended to do with them.  
Both Pokémon saw some kind of battle suit on their way to the exit. It was attached to a Pokémon with purple glowing eyes, covering all other potentially identifying features. Blake briefly wondered if it was Mewtwo, but Max didn't seem to think so: he looked just as surprised as Blake to witness the spectacle.

"It's through here!"

Blake and Max entered a large room filled with vats of unknown contents and saw a skylight high above them.

"Is **that** the exit?"  
"There's a control panel here, but it requires a code. We need to make a ladder, quick!"  
"Too late..."

Max was right: the other Pokémon were about to come through the door. Thinking quickly, Blake knocked over a few empty vats and melted them right onto the door.

"What are you doing?"  
"Go get something! Make a ladder! **I'll** handle them."

The guards were hitting the makeshift wall as hard as they could, so Blake started throwing whatever small items were available that could be melted into the pile.

"It's four against one! Neither one of us – maybe not even the **two** of us – can handle that!"  
"I'm not going to fight them! I'm just going to be keeping them from entering. The more we talk, the less chance we have. Unless you can melt things, you need to make us an escape ladder!"

With a loud clang, the wall started to crack. Angry stares were visible for a fraction of a second before lightning-fast movements and strikes resumed.

"Hurry!" Blake yelled as he tried to patch the crack with melted steel.  
"A-Alright!"

While Blake held back the Pokémon, Max searched the large room for something they could climb. When he couldn't find anything taller than himself, he began to panic.

"_Dammit, what am I supposed to do? I can't find anything to climb... Then again... maybe... maybe I don't have to._"

Max threw a small aura sphere high at the wall, creating a small hole in it, just big enough to use as a climbing aid.

"What's going on over there?" Blake asked.  
"I'm making a staircase!" Max replied as he continued what he was doing.

With a quick upward glance, Blake saw the aura spheres hitting the wall, as well as the holes left by them.

"Well, hurry! They're almost through, and I can't reach anything to melt!"

No sooner had Blake warned Max of his status than the four Pokémon tore down his wall. An explosion echoed throughout the enormous room, blowing Blake backward several feet, onto a vat.

"Blake!"

Max jumped onto some vats and ran on them toward Blake. He was desperately holding off all four Pokémon with a single, continuous, wide flame that had blocked the entrance, even as he lain on the now-collapsed metal container. Max reached for him, feeling the heat of his flames, and carried him away, even as flames continued to spout from him.  
Max felt something wet leaking onto his back. At first, he thought it was the vat's contents, yet he quickly realized it was Blake's leg, bleeding. Looking back at the container, he saw the metal had bent in such a way that it managed to cut his friend's leg. The cut was somewhat big, yet shallow.

"_Dammit... I just hope he can still make it..._"

Blake's body slowly turned colder and colder, until it was at a normal temperature. Max glanced backward again – the other four Pokémon were on their way, and Blake couldn't sustain his attack to hold them back any more.  
The pursuing Skarmory flew high into the air, screeching to signal its impending attack. Meanwhile, Metagross floated awkwardly toward them, being easily overtaken by the much-faster Sneasel and Scizor. Seeing the two Pokémon approach, Blake swung his claws at them, to keep them at bay. However, he had forgotten the Skarmory, which only missed them because Max heard it flapping its metallic wings.  
Max and Blake quickly became surrounded by the three closest Pokémon: Sneasel and Scizor moved at such incredible speeds around them that they seemed to be everywhere at once, while Skarmory blocked any hope of escape by circling them from above. When Metagross climbed on a wall to get to them more easily, Max realized there was nowhere for them to run. Either they stood their ground, or their lives would be forfeit.

"Blake." Max said calmly as he helped Blake to stand.  
"I know." Blake replied, wincing in pain. "Let's go."

Metagross was the first to strike, jumping on the duo. Max immediately tossed an aura sphere at it, blasting it away, so Sneasel tried to attack him. Before Max could react, Blake threw a couple of punches at Sneasel. The first punch found its target, but the second one was stopped by Scizor. Its lobster-like claw squeezed Blake's fist, prompting him to punch it repeatedly with his other arm, trying to set himself free. Max would have helped right away, yet Skarmory was flying downward with incredible velocity. If he moved, Skarmory would hit both he and Blake. This way, he thought, he might be able to drive it back.  
Blake could feel his hand giving way to Scizor's steel grip. Sneasel was coming back for another attack, while Metagross's steps kept getting closer. With a quick glance upward, Blake saw Skarmory just a few feet away from Max, who was getting ready to stop it. Not knowing what he was doing, Blake grabbed Scizor and tossed it at the descending Skarmory, before kicking Sneasel away. His leg was bleeding even more, and his hand was almost broken, yet he had managed to buy himself and Max some breathing room. Without hesitating, Max picked up Blake once more, running to narrowly avoid Metagross's slam, and brought him closer to his makeshift climbing wall, before putting him down again.  
Now that he was closer to it, Blake suddenly realized he would have to carry Max from that point on, as the supports were too far apart for Max to do it himself. Only he wasn't sure he could do it.

"_I guess he had no choice... There are cracks running from one hole to the next. If they had been any closer, either this place would have come crumbling down on us, or there'd just be one big climbing support – useless to us. Either way, I'm not leaving you behind, brother._"

Plotting the most obvious route, Blake grabbed Max and jumped to the closest support, then the next. Every time he jumped, Max could feel his grip growing weaker, and the jumps themselves becoming shorter, each leaving a smaller margin for error than the last. Although Max tried helping by firing aura spheres at the other Pokémon, hoping the force would propel them farther while keeping the others at bay, it wasn't enough. There were only a couple of jumps left, yet Blake was already having trouble catching his breath. His cut leg was shaking, as if it was about to succumb to Max's weight.

"Blake, you have to go without me."  
"What?"  
"Look at you! We can't make it together, and I can't make it alone... But **you** can."  
"Don't be an idiot! I'm getting you out of here. It's **my** fault you're here, and I'm **not** leaving you behind!"

Blake tightened his grip on Max and jumped to the next and final support. Max, realizing there was no other choice, pulled Blake's arm off of himself and fell. Blake tried reaching for him, but it was of no use. The other Pokémon went straight for Max, who screamed at Blake to leave. Crying as his friend was swarmed by the four attackers, Blake made the final leap, breaking through the skylight.

* * *

The last chapter is almost done. I hope you like it as much as I do. Also, I do apologize if the chapter names seem repetitive. I thought they fit the story.


	4. Than All

Blake woke up in the forest, with his injured leg completely numb. He couldn't recall how he had gotten so far away from Mewtwo's facility, but he did know what he had to do: get even further away, to the city. He tried getting up, yet his legs wouldn't obey him. In the end, fashioning crutches from some branches, he slowly dragged himself toward the city. Suddenly, a burst of memories hit him. He saw Max, swarmed by four Pokémon, telling him to leave. The last thing he recalled was seeing Metagross slam Max, while Scizor and Sneasel held him down.

"_Max... I'm sorry._"

Convinced Max was dead, Blake limped toward the city as tears strolled down his cheeks.

* * *

However, Max wasn't dead. He fought as hard as he could to buy Blake every millisecond possible, before being knocked out and captured. Opening his eyes, Max almost wished he were dead. He was sitting in a damp, dark cell, barely able to see the faintest glint of the spikes on his hands. There was a strange smell in the air, almost too faint to be noticed, yet the more Max tried to ignore it, the stronger it seemed to get. He could hear water dripping from above, sometimes splashing him with tiny droplets.

"_Leaky pipe, maybe? If it were an actual hole to the surface, no matter how small, I would be able to see. Unless it's already nighttime._"

Max tried getting up, but wound up hitting his head on the cell's stone ceiling with a loud thud.

"_Smart, Max..._" Max thought as he rubbed his head.

"I see you're awake..."  
"Who's there?"  
"My name is Matt."  
"Matt... Are you Jimmy's father?"  
"You know Jimmy? Is he still alive?"  
"He's safe. He's been stressed out these last few weeks, but he's safe."  
"Weeks? How long has it been?"  
"I dunno... maybe a couple of months?"

"_Feels like decades..._"

"How did you know to come looking for me?"  
"Jimmy told us. We then told the police, but, when they didn't find anything here, they..." Max sighed. "They gave up. Jimmy threatened to go look for you himself, but we stopped him... Being here, I'm glad we did."  
"So am I... Thank you."  
"Call me Max."  
"Max..."  
"Now, why don't you tell me what's going on? What does Mewtwo want?"  
"Mewtwo... It wants everything. Everyone on this world, and its homeworld. It wants... revenge."  
"On who? Why did it come here?"  
"It's a long story..."

Matt explained how he was the first one to find Mewtwo, as well as the ensuing battle, then its intentions. He explained how it had imprisoned him in his own mind, sealing away his senses. He had completely lost all notion of time: to him, an hour could be a year or a second, depending on how Mewtwo manipulated his mind.

"When I was finally released from its grip, I didn't even recognize myself. I still have trouble doing it... I don't recognize my face in the mirror. I had forgotten what I looked like."  
"That's..."  
"Don't feel bad for me. I'm afraid your fate will be much worse."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean this may be the only time we speak... I'm sorry, Max. Had I defeated Mewtwo when it was still weak, I might have prevented all this. Forgive me."  
"Matt, I'm going to get you out of here. Don't worry."

A loud metallic sound echoed through the room Max and Matt were in, just before a bright light illuminated it. Max was able to see the mold on the walls, the puddles on the ground, and Matt sitting on the ground, seemingly in tears, scratching the ground absentmindedly, until three Pokémon took Max away. Matt simply kept scratching the ground, even as his new acquaintance was dragged away by the guards. Just before he walked through the exit, Matt looked at him with tears in his eyes and apologized one last time.

* * *

Max tried figuring out where he was, to no avail. His captors didn't answer his requests for information, or anything at all, in fact; they merely brought him to a large, well-lit arena. There was a strange symbol in the middle, like one circle inside another, connected by two lines on either side of the smaller one. As he approached it, Max realized there was a third circle within the smaller one.

"_What the hell **is** that?_"

"Get in there!" one of the guards yelled as he tossed Max inside.

The walls of the arena were tall, with gates embedded in them, just like the one Max had been pushed through. He could only imagine how many others had been captured. On the opposite side of Max's gate there was a large throne-like stone structure. Seeing it, Max slowly came to realize what the arena was for, though he still denied it to himself.  
Suddenly, while Max tried to figure out where the exit was, a voice echoed throughout the arena, sending shivers down his spine.

"Hello, Lucario. I've been waiting for you. So glad you could join me."

* * *

Meanwhile, Blake had arrived at his hometown. He didn't know how long it had been, but he could tell it was clearly very late: there wasn't anybody roaming the streets, and every home had its lights off. He headed straight for Amber's home, ignoring his wounds and exhaustion. When he got there, he banged frantically on the door for a while. By the time she answered, he was already on his knees, barely managing to raise his arm to continue knocking.

"Blake!" Amber yelled as she helped him up. "What happened?"  
"Max... Help..."

Blake passed out in her arms, much to Amber's concern. Although she hadn't known Blake for long, she knew he wasn't one to collapse like that. As soon as she saw his now-infected and still-bleeding wound, she picked him up and carried him to the hospital.

* * *

"Where are you?!" Max yelled with a shaky voice.

Max knew exactly who the voice belonged to, and he didn't want to face its source. As if it had sensed his fear, Mewtwo appeared in front of him.

"Right here."

Max's breathing quickly became erratic as he faced Mewtwo in the flesh. He stared at its snow-white skin, its purple tail, and its unforgiving eyes, almost trembling in fear.

"I can see you're scared." Mewtwo said with a smirk.

Max threw a single punch at Mewtwo, but it teleported behind him.

"I'm beyond you, Lucario."

Before Max had even turned around, Mewtwo was already floating above him.

"You can't hurt me."

Max, realizing he was outmatched, lowered his arms and surrendered.

"...What do you want?"

With a snap of its fingers, Mewtwo unlocked a single gate, before teleporting onto the large stone throne. Through the door came a hulking Rhydon with glowing purple eyes, poised to attack Max as soon as it was given the chance.

"Fight." Mewtwo said coldly as the gate closed behind the Rhydon.

The Rhydon's eyes glowed once more and, with a roar, it charged toward Max headfirst, simultaneously spinning its drill. Max quickly jumped out of the way, yet the Rhydon wouldn't give up. It easily went underground, preparing to strike from beneath Max's feet. A powerful earthquake knocked him off his feet, just before Rhydon pierced the ground with incredible force. Max used the spikes on his hands to deflect the drill, but the impact still sent him flying. Mewtwo yawned uncaringly, seemingly bored by the fight, until Max used the brief moment he was out of Rhydon's reach to toss a couple of aura spheres at it. Rhydon slid backward a few inches from the explosions, seemingly undamaged. However, the attack did leave it stunned for a few seconds, giving Max some breathing room.

"_This guy's tough... I can't think of any strategy that helps me win against that kind of armor, except maybe..._"

As if it knew what he was thinking, Rhydon sprinted at Max, yet without spinning its drill. Max focused all his power into a single punch directly at its soft belly and struck at what seemed like the weakest point. For a moment, it looked like it was working – Rhydon stopped dead in its tracks – until Rhydon used one of its gargantuan hands to pull Max's tiny fist away and lift him to eye-level. Max panicked, kicking and punching Rhydon's face, without any effect. In his desperation, he aimed for Rhydon's eye and attacked with little hesitation. He was immediately tossed away by an angry and stumbling Rhydon, before running toward it and punching its gut several times. After an aura sphere toss and a decisive uppercut, Rhydon collapsed.  
Mewtwo smirked, apparently having enjoyed the fight, and snapped its fingers again. For a moment, Max thought he'd be put back in his cell – a preferable fate, he thought, realizing what Mewtwo had actually done. Two more gates opened, and out came two more Pokémon, ready to strike at a moment's notice. When Mewtwo gave the order, Max sighed and prepared for battle.

* * *

Blake woke up at the hospital, with Amber sitting by his bedside.

"I'm not used to being here, you know." Blake said. "Feels even stranger with **you** here, rather than..."  
"You were mumbling about Max when you came to my house... Where is he?"

Blake started shaking slightly, holding back tears, before he spoke.

"...H-He's gone. Mewtwo got him."  
"What? How?!"  
"We went in the forest... He didn't want to go, but I-I was... sure... We were... discovered..."  
"You left him, didn't you?" Amber asked, annoyed. "You **left** him!" she concluded.  
"He **told** me to- We were surrounded! Four guys against the two of us! There was no way to win!"  
"Bullshit!" Amber snapped. "How were you able to win against Will and me on your own, but not against those guys, even with Max?!"  
"Because...!"  
"What?"  
"...Forget it. I don't have to explain myself to you. Max is gone." Blake said grimly. "...But we can still stop Mewtwo." he added as he got up.  
"How?"  
"We do what Max told us to do from the very beginning."

Blake groaned in pain as he tried to stand. Amber quickly realized he couldn't move from his bed, so, against his unspoken protests, she helped him back onto it.

"We raise an army." he finished as he stared into Amber's eyes.

Amber stared at Blake for a while, surprised by what she was seeing. Despite what he had told her about emotion, she knew there was one emotion he wouldn't allow himself to feel: hate. Now, pushed to the brink by the presumed death of his best friend, he stood at the precipice of it, ready to take the final plunge and declare that they needed – that he **wanted** – to kill Mewtwo. Though his body was severely injured, he was still able to heat up his room to the point of discomfort for other Pokémon. The fire that dwelled within him, fueled by his anger, was growing out of control; his wrists glowed, as if they were trying to become as hot as possible without lighting themselves on fire. The bed sheets were significantly darker around him than in the areas furthest away from his body, like they had been burned. His blue eyes were now covered by a thin curtain of crimson flames. Amber was relieved he was holding himself back, yet afraid of the reason. Was he trying to keep his hatred at bay, or saving it for Mewtwo? If he completely lost control, would any distinction between Mewtwo – the one he blamed for Max's death – and others who had simply been unable to help still matter? Or would he just break down into tears?  
Before Amber could think about it further, Blake told her something that only made her worry more.

"Leave."  
"What? Why?"  
"I need to be alone... Please go."  
"Are you sure?"

Blake stared at Amber again. The flames in his eyes flared up, sending shivers down her spine. Without saying a word, she left. No sooner had she closed the door to Blake's room than he started sobbing audibly.

"_...I guess I have my answer._" Amber thought as she walked away.

* * *

Max punched yet another Pokémon unconscious, earning a cheer from Mewtwo. It had seen Max's power and resilience, but his ruthlessness and unbreakable spirit were what surprised it the most. Even in the face of certain defeat, Max kept fighting. No matter how tough the opponent, he found a way to defeat them and didn't stop until he had.

"What are you... so happy about?" Max panted. "You're sick... Mewtwo."  
"I'm not the one who beat six Pokémon senseless."  
"**You** made me!"  
"Please! You could have tried to attack me. You could have even tried to reason with them! Not that it would do you much good, though... You're a cold-blooded fighter, Lucario."  
"Fuck you!"  
"Fight for me. I'll reward you with anything you want. I'll make you more powerful than you've ever dreamed of."  
"No." Max said without hesitation. "I'd sooner die than serve you."  
"Hm... That's unfortunate."

Mewtwo casually stretched its arm, lifting Max off the floor.

"What the hell?!"  
"You **will** do what I want, Lucario."

Max struggled futilely, before being teleported to a room he was familiar with – the room with the strange suit and the Pokémon with glowing eyes. There, he was instantly grabbed by a device coming out of the wall and suspended in midair. Mewtwo was there, observing intently as a suit was assembled in front of Max.

"W-What is that?" Max shakingly asked.  
"With it, you'll do what I say without hesitation or complaints. You'll also be stronger than ever before... all so you can better serve me."

Max struggled against the device holding him, but it was of no use. Before he knew it, the silver suit was on him, instantly connecting his mind to Mewtwo's.

"Listen to me, Lucario... You will lead my army across this world. You will conquer everything and everyone on this planet for me. Let **nothing** stop you."

* * *

Meanwhile, Blake stopped sobbing, quickly replacing his mourning with anger. He clenched his fists reflexively, imagining that he was punching Mewtwo over and over again, even though he hadn't even laid eyes on it. He imagined breaking Mewtwo in every way possible. He wanted nothing more than to see Mewtwo burn.

"_You took all that matters to me... I'm going to rip your heart out._"

* * *

After Amber left the hospital, she went home, to Will and Jimmy. They were waiting for her, as usual, yet Jimmy was once again trying to convince Will to let him go after Mewtwo.

"Jimmy." Amber said.  
"What?"  
"Max and Blake went into the forest. They found Mewtwo."  
"Why didn't they tell us?" Will asked.  
"I don't know."  
"...Because of me." Jimmy concluded. "They thought I'd try to go with them."  
"It doesn't matter. Max didn't make it out. He's gone."  
"How's Blake dealing with it?"  
"He's angry. At the hospital, it looked like he was frying his sheets just by being there. He told me we needed to raise an army, like Max said."  
"He must've been beaten up pretty badly to say something like that."  
"He was, but I'm not convinced we need a freaking **army** to stop it."  
"Mewtwo is more powerful than anyone!" Jimmy said.

"_That's the same thing Max said._" Amber thought. "_I wonder if..._"

"Jimmy, why do you believe that?"  
"What?"  
"Why do you believe Mewtwo is more powerful than anyone?"  
"Because... I felt its power. I **saw** its power. It came from the stars and crashed here, but it was still strong enough to take on my dad."  
"But you haven't met that many people, have you?"  
"What's your point?" Will intervened.  
"Max said the same thing Jimmy said – that Mewtwo is more powerful than everyone. What if that's not what Max thinks, but what **Jimmy** thinks that somehow passed on to Max?"  
"That doesn't make sense. How would that even happen?"  
"They were connected, remember? What was it like, Jimmy?"  
"It was weird... I couldn't move or see, but I could hear and feel Max."  
"Could you also feel what he was feeling?"  
"I guess... I'd rather not think about it. It was..."  
"That's alright. I'm sorry."  
"Why does it matter?" Will asked impatiently.  
"It means Mewtwo isn't as powerful as we thought it was. It means we can win."  
"And by 'we' you mean..."  
"You, me, and Blake."  
"What about **me**?"  
"You're staying here. You're still a kid."  
"What about my dad? He's in there, with Mewtwo! I wanna help!"  
"We'll bring your dad here. Don't worry."  
"...Really?"  
"Promise."  
"...Alright." Jimmy said as he walked away.

Amber watched Jimmy go into the bedroom she had built for him, before turning to Will.

"Amber, you know as well as I do that Jimmy's dad is being controlled by Mewtwo. We have no idea how to break that link."  
"...Would you prefer it if we took Jimmy with us?"  
"No..."  
"Then keep your mouth shut around him. We'll do what we can for his dad."  
"Alright... Why were you asking all that stuff about Mewtwo anyway?"

Amber sighed, slowly explaining everything she knew about what had happened with Blake and Max. Will was as shocked as she had been, but she reassured him she had figured it out.

* * *

Mewtwo stared absently at the small holograms on its desk. It reached out for one of them, trying to touch it, but its fingers went through the projection, making it vanish. Mewtwo's eyes swelled with tears, until it heard a knock on the door, immediately wiping them away. Through the door came a Gengar, one of Mewtwo's followers.  
Many psychic Pokémon had sensed Mewtwo's arrival. Impressed by its power, some chose to become its followers in the hopes that they could share the power, while others escaped to remote locations. Gengar had been lucky enough to spy on a few of them as they conversed about the threat, immediately making up its mind to become Mewtwo's subject. Mewtwo had not considered that other Pokémon would follow it willingly, but the unforeseen development was welcome, nonetheless. Without needing to control every Pokémon telepathically, Mewtwo was able to conserve and slowly increase its strength. The improvements over the suit technology by those same psychic Pokémon had been another unexpected gift, though it hadn't been perfected yet, in spite of weeks of experimentation. The subjects could attempt to resist, delaying their response to Mewtwo's commands. To make up for it, the suits also had to increase the subjugated Pokémon's strength somewhat – something Mewtwo was all too familiar with, due to its own past experiences with the technology.

"...Sir?"  
"What is it?"  
"The other Pokémon – the Blaziken – who came here with your new general arrived at the city. He's recovering as we speak."  
"What should we do about it?"  
"...Kill him. Send the Smeargle."  
"A-Are you sure?"

Mewtwo suddenly rose, sending shivers down the Gengar's spine.

"Y-You said it yourself: Smeargles are almost powerless."  
"The Blaziken is badly wounded. Even a Smeargle can handle it." Mewtwo assured its underling as it approached him. "Unless you're volunteering for the job."  
"I-I just think it'd be better if-"  
"Then **you** go. Kill him in his sleep."  
"I-I'm not-"  
"Go." Mewtwo repeated sternly. "And don't question my orders again." It added menacingly.

Gengar nodded, not daring to open its mouth again, and turned into a shadow, quickly leaving Mewtwo's side. Mewtwo closed the door telekinetically, before recreating the small holograms it had been staring at. About a dozen Pokémon played in the air in front of it, smiling at each other and Mewtwo. With a wave of its hand, Mewtwo made the illusions disappear.

"_...I'm sorry._"

* * *

The following morning, Amber went to visit Blake at the hospital again. Much to her surprise, he was already on his feet, staring out the window. A small fire had broken out in his room shortly after she left, restricting visits to the entire floor until they could get it cleaned up.

"_He must've started it by accident._" Amber thought.

"...Why are you here, Amber?"

"_Very friendly._"

"I wanted to talk to you."  
"Is it about my brother?"  
"Ye-"  
"Leave."

"_This is going to take a while..._"

"Blake, why did you leave Max?"  
"I told you, I don't have to explain myself to you."  
"You're also stronger than anyone I know. Granted, I don't know many fighters, but you should have been able to get out of there with Max."  
"You see this wound? Did you think it magically showed up? I was thrown into a damaged metal container, cut my leg, and that's **before** I had to jump who knows how much to get out. Before the final jump, I could barely carry Max, and he knew it. That's when... He told me to go."  
"And you agreed?"  
"No! Max, he... he saved me. He is... was... more than a friend; he was family. I wouldn't let him go, but he... jumped."  
"...I don't understand why-"  
"Why I didn't jump down with him and fight until we both died?"  
"No. I don't understand why you didn't fight with him until you **won**."  
"I told you; it was impossible."  
"...Were you afraid?"  
"What?"  
"Were you scared of Mewtwo?"  
"**Max** is the one who was scared. **I** was..."  
"Overconfident?"  
"I made a mistake."  
"Blake, I-"  
"Did you get me an army?"  
"Overnight? No!" Amber scoffed. "Besides, even if I **did** gather an army, it wouldn't be **your** army. It wouldn't even be **my** army. It'd just be a bunch of people, trying to survive."  
"I don't care. Do it."  
"Let's get something straight: I don't work for you. I can't just ask a bunch of us to fight – maybe even **die** – just because-"  
"I don't care!" Blake yelled.  
"What?"

A nurse, startled by Blake's scream, burst into the room. She saw his anger, immediately slowing her pace as she approached him.

"Is everything alright, sir?"  
"Everything's fine. Please leave."  
"Alright... Let me know if you need anything."

No sooner had the nurse closed the door behind her than Blake resumed telling Amber how he felt.

"I don't **care** if they die, as long as Mewtwo dies too. If **you're** not going to help me, then just stay out of my way. Now leave me alone."  
"...Fine. Call me when the stick's out of your ass."

Amber stomped out of Blake's room, passing by the same startled nurse in the hallway, while Blake quickly lied down to get some sleep.

"_Fucking Amber..._"

* * *

While Blake slept, Gengar approached his room. He saw Blake lying on his bed and smirked.

"_Less work for me. No need to put him asleep._"

With a sadistic chuckle, Gengar entered Blake's dreams, intent on toying with him before killing him.

* * *

Gengar found himself in the middle of a dense forest, back when Blake and Max met. Blake's parents had died in a freak accident, leaving him lost and alone for almost a decade, living off of what he could find. He was scared most of the time; reports of fires were frequent for a couple of weeks, but they quickly died out as he got a hold of his emotions. Whenever he accidentally set a fire, he ran to the opposite end of the forest, to escape it, so nobody managed to find him, even as several firefighters were sent to put out his fires.  
He had tried escaping back into the nearest city, but the forest was far too large, and too far away from civilization for anything to be visible. Every time he ventured out into the world to find something, he never found anything more than endless meadows. Every few days he gathered enough resources for a day's travel, leaving from a different spot every time, and every time he ran out of resources before finding anything. Eventually, he gave up, and tried to make the best of it.  
By the time the city grew enough to be visible from the forest, Blake was already a teenager. He had attained almost total knowledge of the forest and all its secrets by then – in particular the creatures and plant life there, as well as their abilities. He debated for days whether to stay in what had now become his home or go back to a world he probably didn't understand any more. That decision, however, was made for him. Since the forest was now close to the city, more and more Pokémon visited it. One Pokémon in particular, out to train his abilities, actually managed to find Blake out of sheer luck. He approached Blake silently, surprised to see a fire Pokémon in the forest, oblivious to the fact that Blake was already aware of him. When he got within a few feet of Blake, a single word was uttered by the Blaziken.

"Stop."  
"Who are you?"  
"...What year?"  
"Uh... Come again?"  
"What year?!"  
"Oh, um... 2937."

Blake stared blankly into the forest, slowly realizing how long he had been alone for. Not wanting to let his new acquaintance's question go unanswered, while also being cautious about trusting the stranger, he whispered his name.

"...Blake."  
"What?"  
"Name. Blake."  
"N-Nice to meet you. I'm-"

Before he knew it, Blake had vanished into the forest.

"-Max."

Gengar ignored Max entirely; instead, he tried catching up with Blake.

"_The kid's fast..._" Gengar thought.

Blake swung and jumped from tree to tree much faster than Gengar could keep up with, until he suddenly stopped. Gengar quickly arrived, merged with the shadows of the forest.

"...I know you're there, whoever you are."

"_Shit._"

Gengar reluctantly revealed himself. There was no point in hiding any more.

"How long have you known I was here?"  
"I've known you were here since the beginning."  
"How?"  
"...I've had this... dream from time to time, ever since I returned to the city. I know it like the back of my hand. I could tell something was different."  
"Now what?"  
"I kill you."

Blake swung his fists at Gengar, unaware of the ghost's ability to control his dream. Gengar dissolved again and again, while Blake only managed to hit air. Gengar laughed, swirling around Blake while making everything else go dark.

"Fool... Can't touch me in here."

Within moments, the forest turned dark. Shadows stretched and became alive, clawing at Blake. He ran away from them, periodically spitting fire at the ones that got in his way, yet there was no end to either the shadow creatures or the forest, the latter of which seemed to be repeating itself endlessly. A sadistic laughter echoed throughout Blake's dream-turned-nightmare, angering and frightening him.

* * *

Max struggled inside his armor, pounding the walls of the cage he had been placed in for everyone's protection. Mewtwo was outraged his technology had failed to control Max; instead having driven him insane.

"Why is he still doing that?" Mewtwo asked its lead scientist.  
"W-We don't know. We've never tried it on a sentient creature before. I-It may be that his mind is simply too powerful."  
"No. This technology works on sentient beings. I've seen it. Fix it. And take it off of him before he breaks it... It's worth more than you are."  
"Y-Yes, sir."

* * *

Blake ran for as long as his foes allowed, until he was surrounded by the shadow creatures. One by one, they took Max's shape and began attacking him.

"_Max..._"

He dodged their attacks as best as possible, before realizing there was only one way to survive.

"_...I'm sorry._"

Blake struck his foes, punching the ones that jumped toward him and tearing off pieces of the ones that ran at him. Every time he could hear them scream in pain in Max's voice, begging him to stop.

"Let me out of here!"

Blake's screams weren't heard outside his own head, but the effects Gengar's possession was causing were visible in the real world. Although several hours had passed in his nightmare, only a few seconds had passed to the rest of the world. Nurses rushed to Blake's bedside, prompting Amber to turn back as well.

"What's going on?"  
"We're not sure. He started struggling in his sleep as soon as you left."  
"Out... Get... out..." Blake mumbled.  
"He's... having a nightmare?" one of the nurses concluded.  
"It's something else. He's having trouble breathing, his heart rate is...!"

"_Dammit... I need help... Huh?_"

While the nurses were distracted, Amber noticed Blake's shadow wasn't following him. There was a slight but noticeable lag between his movements and the shadow's.

"_What the..._"

"Get down!" Amber yelled as she aimed one of her cannons at Blake.

The nurses threw themselves to the ground, and Amber fired a steady stream of water at Blake. Gengar was startled, but he wouldn't leave. Amber continued shooting cold water at Blake, taking great care not to drown him, until Gengar exposed himself to direct sunlight by going near the window, to keep himself from freezing.

"_There!_"

Amber's punch, though slow, was extremely powerful, tearing down part of the wall and forcing Gengar to reveal himself to avoid being hit.

"So... you knew I was there..."  
"What did you do with Blake?"  
"Would you like to find out?"

Gengar attempted to hypnotize Amber, but one of the nurses – a Chansey – fired a bolt of lightning at him, while one of the doctors – a Hypno – grabbed him telekinetically.

"Why are you here? Who sent you?" Amber asked.  
"I-I..."  
"You hurt my patient." the doctor interjected. "You are an intruder in **my** hospital. And I have you. Do you know the laws of our country? I could crush you right now, and nobody would bat an eye."  
"W-Wait! I... I'll tell you... Just let me go."  
"Tell us first, or you're not getting out of here alive."

"_What kind of doctor is she?!_"

"Answer her question. Who sent you?"  
"M-Mewt- Ah!"

Gengar suddenly exploded, his shriek shattering windows throughout the hospital as pieces of him dissolved into nothingness.

"Why did you do that?" Amber yelled. "He told us what we needed to know!"  
"I-I didn't..." Hypno replied. "I-It was... someone else."

* * *

Back in Mewtwo's lair, Mewtwo sat in its chair, sighing.

"_Should've sent the Smeargle._"

* * *

At the hospital, Blake's doctor tried to calm Amber down, until Blake woke up.

"Is this... real?" Blake asked.  
"Very real."  
"Amber... I'm... sorry." Blake said before passing out.  
"I-Is he OK?"  
"...He's just fainted. He should be able to sleep now. We'll have security guard the room... Can you come with me, please?"  
"Why?"  
"You **broke** our wall. Somebody's got to pay for it."  
"Don't you have insurance?"  
"For someone **punching** down our wall while fighting a ghost? No. Can't say we do."  
"Right..."  
"Go talk to the nurse."  
"OK."

* * *

While Amber spoke to the nurse and gave her her info, she briefly wondered why Hypno seemed so callous about killing Gengar. Moreover, why nobody seemed to have any problem with it.

"Sign here, please."  
"Say... What's with that doctor? Was she really going to kill that... thing? Why didn't any of you stop her?"  
"...She used to be a soldier. She cares about her patients and would do anything to keep them alive."  
"Even kill?"  
"...Sign here, please."

* * *

A short while later, while Blake slept, Amber was taken to the police station, along with the nurses and the doctor who had also witnessed the attack. When she gave her statement, she was surprised to see Adam. The Machamp sighed wearily, clearly annoyed by something.

"Let's just get this over with... What happened?"  
"You know what happened. It was Mewtwo. He sent that..."  
"Gengar."  
"What?"  
"Its species. Gengar. They're ghosts who can control and eat others' dreams... even kill them in their sleep."

"_So that's what it tried to do to Blake!_"

"...Amber, was it?"  
"Yeah?"  
"I'm sorry for doubting you and your friends. You were right. Mewtwo... is real."  
"Are you just saying that because-"  
"Sam is gone. He left without saying anything, his home was... burned... There's no trace of him except for our records."  
"So..."  
"So I'm going to get him back. You know where he is, don't you? Where Mewtwo is keeping him?"  
"I-I don't know if-"  
"Please. I need your help. I... I know I'm not the nicest guy, but... Everyone here is important to me. They're my family."  
"Why did you send Sam off on his own then?"  
"Sam... is just a kid. He wanted... 'to go on an adventure', as he put it. But he's strong... I didn't think he'd be in any danger... Mewtwo's a monster. It needs to be taken care of. I'm willing to... go with you and fight it, if you'll let me."  
"What about the others? We could use a few more guys."  
"I can get maybe two officers to join us."  
"Two?"  
"The number of police officers is enough to cover the city, but not much more. We haven't had any problems until now, so there was no need to increase our numbers. However, if I send too many officers away, there could be... rumors. Two is all I can spare, along with myself."

"_So that's... two officers, Adam, me, and Will. Five... Maybe I can get that doctor to join us too, so six... But what about Blake and Jimmy? They won't stay here quietly. We could use Blake's strength, but Jimmy's just a kid. Even if we did get them to join us, that's still just... eight. It's not enough._"

"...Two isn't good enough. Even if I get everyone I trust, we're only eight."  
"It's not just a matter of numbers. Eight well-trained people can do more damage than thirty untrained, wild beasts."  
"We don't know how many creatures Mewtwo has working for it... but maybe Blake does."  
"What?"  
"Blake was there, with Max. He might know something."  
"Isn't he the one who was attacked?"  
"Yes! Mewtwo's clearly scared of him."  
"...I have to file this paperwork. I'll meet you at the hospital with my two officers. Gather everyone you can."  
"I told you, eight people is not enough."  
"If Mewtwo is afraid, it's for a good reason. Blake knows something important. A weakness. Eight people will be enough, if we have a good plan. Talk to him. Get him to tell you everything he knows, and I'll make a plan. First, just tell me what kind of people you have on your side, so I can start covering all our weaknesses."

Amber quickly explained all her acquaintances strong and weak points, while also taking care to inform Adam that she wasn't sure Blake's doctor would join them. Once she was done, Adam thanked her and sent her away, before grabbing a phone and calling his officers.

* * *

Several hours passed, with Amber waiting by Blake's bedside for him to wake up. Meanwhile, Mewtwo's scientists had finished the necessary modifications to the technology and were ready to try again.

"Is it ready?" Mewtwo asked.  
"We think so."  
"Have you tried it?"  
"We're about to."  
"...This better work, Alakazam, or your brainpower will be added to the central computer, same as the other ones."  
"Y-Yes, sir."

"_Alakazam have powerful brains rivaling my own... The network I created gave birth to the most powerful supercomputer on this planet. Still... I need minions who aren't connected to a computer all day long._"

Max had been rendered unconscious as a precaution – the only audible sound came from the machinery attaching the suit to his body. Within moments, Max's eyes began to glow as Mewtwo fully controlled his mind.

"...It works. Well done."  
"Th-Thank you, sir. W-We-"  
"How's the UMS project?"  
"T-To be honest... We're not sure what it is you want us to do. We've never seen anything like it before."  
"The Mega Stones can bestow great power to many Pokémon. I just want you to make me one that will work on all of them."  
"If we had more samples, perhaps-"  
"You have everything you're going to get. Make it work."  
"W-Well, there is..."  
"What?"  
"W-We actually managed t-to create a prototype, b-but..."  
"...But what?"  
"I-It's unstable. It could work, or it could explode, taking out the Pokémon who tried to use it with it. It's also... fairly large, about the size of a large rock."  
"...Where is it?"  
"In the vault."  
"I'll study it in my office. In the mean time, get all the scientists down here and seal the labs."  
"Sir?"  
"We're expecting company... Is the Lucario combat-ready?"  
"He should be."  
"Get him to the arena. I'm going to test his power."  
"Yes, sir."

"_My power is not inexhaustible... If I attempted to control every being on this planet, I wouldn't be able to. On the other hand, I can control any one of them. This tech will allow me to grow my ranks without any strain on my mental capacity. And, with the UMS... I'll control an unstoppable army of Pokémon. For now, I just need to fend off this attack. They shouldn't have more than a dozen soldiers on their side, while I have over thirty on mine... and the Lucario._"

* * *

Back at the hospital, Blake was awake once again, finally revealing why he had left Max behind.

"...You were right. I was scared. Of death... I had never met anyone who rivaled me in power – someone who could actually **kill** me if they tried... not since I was a kid. Being in that position again was like... going back to that time... when I was just a frightened kid living in the forest."  
"Blake, I need to know what you saw in Mewtwo's base. Mewtwo tried to kill you; you must know something."  
"Why do you want to know now?"  
"Because we're going in there. I... got a few people who'll help."  
"How many?"  
"Six, maybe seven."  
"...That won't do."  
"It's all we've got."  
"...I saw... some kind of technology. Alien. A suit, but I don't know its purpose. There was also something about a... 'UMS prototype'."

"_I wonder what that is..._"

"I also saw... a map of the base."  
"Did you memorize it?"  
"No... I was just trying to find out what Mewtwo was doing."  
"Maybe I can help." Blake's doctor said.  
"H-Hello, doctor. We were just-"  
"I heard the whole story. Who's Mewtwo? Why is he after you?"  
"Mewtwo is... a creature from outer space. It's trying to conquer our world. I'm not sure why it tried to kill me, though."  
"...Lie down." Hypno said as she grabbed her pendulum.  
"What for?"  
"So you don't hurt yourself if you faint."  
"What are you talking about?"  
"You want to remember, don't you? I can help."  
"I-I'm not sure if..."  
"It's completely painless, but it can be tiring. Don't worry, though. As long as you keep in mind that it's not real, it's safe."  
"Fine..."  
"Focus on the pendulum. Don't think about anything except what you saw at that base."

The doctor's voice seemed to make every other sound fade away, until Blake was teleported to his own memory. The underground base's map because clearer and clearer, until it was just as if he really had gone back in time. Slowly but surely, Blake described every aspect of the base, starting with what he could see on the map and what he saw while trying to escape. Amber wrote it all down, but, suddenly, Blake started struggling.

"Blake, it's not real. Calm down."  
"M-Max... Max!"  
"What's going on?"  
"He's having some trouble getting back to reality."  
"You said it was safe!"  
"As long as he remembered it wasn't real." Hypno said sternly. "This memory must be too painful for him to handle in such detail... I need you to hold him down before he hurts himself."

Blake saw Max fighting to protect him, even as they were both heading outside, as well as the final leap and their pursuers striking him all at once. He screamed at the top of his lungs as the last time he saw Max repeated itself endlessly in his head, yet Amber still managed to keep him down.

"_His arms feel like they're going to explode. Is he...?_"

Without warning, Blake's bed burst into flames as the heat from his body surpassed its limits. His doctor tried to get him to wake up, but her efforts were in vain. Soon, Amber's hands became too hot for her to keep holding Blake, so she decided to do the only thing she could. Before the nurses who had heard Blake's scream managed to go through the door, Amber fired a continuous jet of water at Blake, simultaneously headbutting him with all her strength and knocking him out.  
Amber turned around, angry at Blake's doctor for trying something so potentially dangerous, until she saw that the Hypno had also been burned.

"Are you alright, doctor?"  
"I-I'm fine... I'll be fine... Amber, did you manage to save your notes?"  
"Yeah, yeah... I threw it out the window when Blake started to..."  
"OK... Nurse, could you please go get it?"  
"Sure thing, doctor."  
"Is he going to be alright?"  
"Yes. I was trying to put him under on my own, but... I guess your method worked better."  
"What was that? What happened?"  
"I don't know. He should have stopped after he told us about the map. I don't understand what could have done this."

"_It's probably Max. Seeing him like that was just... I had no idea Blake was so... attached. They did always refer to each other as brothers, but I always thought they were just good friends... I guess they really do consider each other family, kind of like... Will. And... if this is how Blake feels, I can't imagine how Jimmy would feel if he knew we were going to rescue his dad but weren't taking him. It's not like we can stop him anyhow; the kid can teleport. I guess it's better if we know he's there. At least we can protect him that way._"

As soon as Amber exited Blake's room, Adam was waiting there with his two officers. She quickly explained the situation to them, then showed them her notes once the nurse brought her notepad back.

"Hm..." Adam mumbled. "I think... this is the best place to strike. These... structures will provide us with a perfect cover. If we can get past the tree line unseen and hide between these structures, we'll be as good as invisible."  
"...And how do we get there unseen?"  
"You said Jimmy could teleport. Maybe he can-"  
"He's far too young. He can't teleport all of us."  
"Adam?"

Amber recognized the voice, though the emotion in it was new. It was Blake's doctor.

"What're you doing here? I thought you hated hospitals."  
"You know each other?" Amber asked.  
"We served together."  
"Meryl here... She didn't like to fight. Didn't like hurting others."

"_Could've fooled me..._"

"So we went our separate ways. She became a doctor, and I became a police officer. We still see each other from time to time... just not at work. Doctors don't really like soldiers."  
"Are you going after Mewtwo?"  
"H-How do you...?"  
"Blake is my patient."  
"Well, yes, but-"  
"I wanna help."  
"Why? You hate fighting."  
"I still do... But Mewtwo hurt my patient. It's my duty to protect him. I won't fight, but I can get you past their defenses."  
"Jimmy can't do it on his own, Adam." Amber said. "Meryl would be a big help."  
"...I guess it's better than getting us there one at a time. Just don't tell anyone, Meryl. I can't have the people in a panic."  
"Alright. What's the plan?"

* * *

When Blake woke up again, Amber had already gathered Will and Jimmy, and both they and Meryl had been told the situation and the plan. Jimmy was by his bedside, having stayed there ever since he arrived at the hospital.

"Hello, Mr. Blake."  
"Hey, Jimmy. What's up?"  
"Amber says we're going after Mewtwo. Will you be coming with us?"  
"What?!"

Blake had a mild headache from the earlier strike, but he ignored it as he rose and spoke to Amber, who was just outside his room with Will.

"We can't take Jimmy with us. He's going to get killed."  
"I thought you didn't care."  
"I... I can't get Max back if I... He wouldn't accept it."  
"Jimmy may be a kid, but he managed to teleport straight from Mewtwo's stronghold to the middle of town on his own." Will said.  
"And then he passed out." Blake countered.  
"That's true, but the point is he can teleport away if it becomes too dangerous."  
"Jimmy... If you get in trouble, will you do that?"  
"Yes." Jimmy answered without hesitation. "I want to help, but... if we're all captured... or worse... I won't get my dad back. I want my dad back... He's all I've got."  
"...Then let's go."  
"You need to wait a few days, Blake." Meryl said. "You're in no condition to fight."  
"I have... medicine at my home. It can fix any wound."  
"Why didn't you say so before?!" Amber yelled.  
"How could I? Every time something happened. First Gengar, then you knocked me out, and before all that, I was too weak to think."  
"What's it made of? We could use it here at the hospital."  
"...If I thought it would help, I'd give it to you. I spent over a decade living in the forest, and I still only managed to make eight of them. I've taken it to chemists all around the country. None of them could replicate it because the ingredients don't exist any more. Even I no longer remember how I did it."  
"You spent over ten years in the forest? Why?"  
"...It doesn't matter. What matters is that these are our trump cards. I'll need one to recover from these injuries, and I'll bring the rest with me when we go out... What time is it?"  
"Almost dawn."  
"Go to the forest. I'll meet you there. Jimmy, think you can take me home?"  
"I'll do it." Meryl said. "Jimmy needs to conserve his strength in case... Where do you live?"  
"I... live in the town dojo."  
"You own it?"

Blake nodded.

"Well, that explains a lot..."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I used to get three injuries a week from people who went there. Because it was a dojo, I just assumed they had pushed themselves too hard. Since you've been here, nobody's been hurt."  
"S-Sorry..."  
"It's fine... Let's just go. Take my hand."

As soon as Blake held Meryl's hand, a bright light enveloped him, and he was instantly transported to the dojo.

"It's dark." Meryl said.  
"Give me a minute... There."

Lights turned on throughout the large building, with Blake relaxing as soon as he realized it was exactly as he had left it.

"This place... is huge."  
"I don't like closed spaces."  
"I guess not... After spending twelve years in the forest, I wouldn't like closed spaces either."  
"How...?"  
"Well, I wasn't sure until you said you had spent over a decade in the forest, but we studied your case in medical school. Specifically, in psych class. A fire manipulator lost in the forest for years didn't end up burning it down? You were quite famous for a while, then just... disappeared. What happened?"  
"Max happened." Blake said as he searched for the patches he wanted. "He helped keep me off everyone's radar."  
"How?"  
"I didn't ask... I got them. Let's go."  
"They look... advanced. You couldn't have made that in the forest."  
"I just made the formula. When I got here, I improved on the delivery system. This is much better than rubbing it on a wound and hoping for the best."

Blake placed one of the patches on himself, and his strength immediately returned.

"_That's impressive._" Meryl thought. "_Out of necessity, people can do amazing things. I'd ask him if he'd let me help him remember, but I doubt he wants to go through that again._"

"What?" Blake asked, seeing Meryl staring at him.  
"...The others are probably already at the meeting point. Take my hand."  
"Alright."

One bright flash later, Blake was with the others who had gathered to fight Mewtwo. The two officers Adam had brought – a Poliwrath and a Mr. Mime – quickly introduced themselves, and the entire group went through the plan one last time.

"So, Jimmy and Meryl will take us to these structures, and... then what?" Poliwrath inquired.  
"We infiltrate the underground structure." Adam explained.  
"This guy... Mewtwo... it'll see us coming." Mr. Mime mumbled.  
"That's true, which is why I got both of you. If we need to leave, it'll be **your** job to keep the enemy off of Jimmy and Meryl while they take us back."  
"Got it."  
"Then let's go. Lead the way, Blake."

* * *

Blake did as Adam asked for a while, until he suddenly motioned for everyone to stop.

"What's wrong? Why did you stop?" Adam asked.  
"...Mewtwo knew we were coming. Its minions are just a quick dash ahead." Blake explained.  
"Are you serious?"  
"Yes, Will."  
"I can sense them too." Meryl said.  
"So... now what?"  
"Now we fight."  
"I told you, I won't fight for you."  
"Then what did you expect to do here?"  
"I'm just here to get you through their defenses and help you escape."  
"...Fine. Suit yourself. Don't fight. The rest of us have a job to do."

Before Meryl could retort, a low rustling sound was picked up by everyone, so they quickly prepared for battle. When a Medicham slowly crawled toward them from behind a tree, they all relaxed somewhat.

"Daddy?"  
"J-Jimmy?"

The Medicham collapsed, prompting Jimmy and Meryl to rush to his side.

"Is it really your dad, Jimmy?"  
"Y-Yes... It's my dad."  
"You must be Blake... Max told me about you."  
"Max... Max is alive?"  
"In a way... Mewtwo took control of his mind. He's not your friend any more."  
"...Is there a way to break Mewtwo's control?"  
"I don't know."  
"...I'm going after Max."  
"What? We need you here. You don't know if you can save him or not."  
"If I don't try, I'll never know."  
"What if he tries to kill you?"  
"If it comes to that, I'll... stop him."  
"Blake, you can't-"  
"You told me I was a coward for leaving him behind. I thought he was dead for sure, and it... broke me. I can't leave him behind again. He's family."  
"Blake..."  
"Meryl, can you get me inside?"  
"I can, but... I have to stay here and help everyone escape, if it comes to that. I won't be able to know if and when you'll need my help. You'll be on your own."  
"In that case, I'm leaving behind two of these patches and taking the rest with me... It could get pretty rough in there, so I'll need them."

Blake pulled out two of the patches he had brought and handed them to Meryl, as she had already seen them in action. Before teleporting him, however, she wanted to be certain he knew what he was doing.

"Blake, are you sure this is what you want?"  
"In truth? Not really." Blake whispered. "...But it's what Max would want, and it's the right thing to do."  
"Alright... Be careful in there."

The third teleportation finally alerted Mewtwo to the fact that something was wrong, and gave it the location of the intruders. Within moments, its forces gathered in front of the group, ready to attack.

"Jimmy, get your dad out of here."  
"Y-Yeah."

Jimmy did as Amber told him, much to everyone's surprise.

"Since when can you control him?"  
"Since he got what he came for. Will, get ready to freeze everyone."  
"Alright!"  
"...This is our fight; not Jimmy's. Let's go!"

Mewtwo's Pokémon roared loudly, charging toward their opponents. Amber fired a continuous stream of cold water at them, while Will cooled it down further and froze them in place. Adam grabbed two opponents who came too close and smashed them against each other, while Mr. Mime created barriers to protect everyone. Just when Amber and the others were getting their hopes up, several more Pokémon showed up, demonstrating just how outnumbered they were.

"_Blake... you'd better beat Mewtwo quickly, because we can't win against all of these guys._"

* * *

Blake found himself back at the long hallway where he saw the map. A quick glance at it showed that all rooms but one were closed for an unknown reason. Blake naturally headed for the only unlocked one and arrived at the arena.

"Max!"

Max was wearing a strange suit with a design similar to the one he had seen in Mewtwo's cave several days ago. It was mostly dark silver, with paper-thin, purple, and translucent parts making up the visor and protecting two pairs of panels – one pair on his forearms, and the other one on his quads. There were thick wires connecting his elongated helmet to the cover on his spine, which then had other, thinner, wires connecting to his arms and legs.  
Max's vision had been purposefully clouded by the suit's visor. Even using his aura-sensing abilities, he couldn't tell Blake apart from Mewtwo – all in an attempt to keep his mind subservient. However, hearing his best friend's voice weakened Mewtwo's control over his mind.

"_Blake... Help... me..._" Max thought.

Sensing Max's hesitation, Mewtwo stepped in, to avoid losing control over its general.

"Max, why do you resist?"  
"Blake is my friend! You can't make me fight him!"  
"If he's your friend, why did he leave you behind?"  
"He... He was injured! We couldn't have both made it out the hole in the ceiling. I knew it, which is why I offered to stay behind and find another way."  
"If Blake truly cared, he would have found a way to rescue you."  
"I-I don't-"  
"You mean to tell me that Blake, a Blaziken, that can jump higher than the tallest tree, couldn't carry **one** small Pokémon such as yourself?"  
"I-I... You're right. He left me behind. He deserves to... to be..."  
"Punished?"  
"Yes."  
"Then go. Don't hold back. Show him why you're better than him. Show him why you're better than all of them."

Max did what Mewtwo ordered him to, attacking without hesitation. He dashed toward Blake, creating an aura bubble around his right hand to increase the force of his strike. Blake was able to see him coming, yet every time he tried to strike first with a ranged blast, Max disappeared for a few milliseconds, popping up somewhere Blake couldn't even see until he turned. Finally, Max's punch connected. The aura bubble exploded upon impact, knocking Blake flying across the arena while smashing him against the opposite wall and pinning him there in a Blake-shaped hole. Blake stared at Max, realizing that the wires were faintly glowing, before slowly going back to normal.

"...You're stronger than I thought."  
"That's the suit **I** placed on him." Mewtwo said. "You and your friend were equally matched when you found me... No longer."  
"I wasn't talking to Max, **idiot**. I was talking to you."

Mewtwo became even more enraged at Blake's blatant disrespect, but decided to let him finish speaking.

"Max would never attack me like that if he were in control of himself. The fact that you were able to push him into doing it says a lot about your power."  
"I told you: I am the strongest in existence."  
"Oh, I know... Max saw it in Jimmy's mind... Though I wonder... Were those Max's thoughts... or **yours**?"

Blake got out of the wall by closing his fists and slamming it hard enough to crack it even more. He then lit up his wrists in preparation for battle. The flames were much more intense than any Blaziken Mewtwo had seen, and, although Blake was the first Blaziken it had seen on its current planet, it still sent shivers down its spine.

"Because... If what Max believes is really true... Then why do you need a big army? Just go back to... wherever you came from, and kick ass! Why do you need these suits? Why **any** of this **bullshit**?"  
"Becaus-"  
"Because you're **weak**. At least weaker than you think you are. I won't say I can defeat you for sure, but I'll try until there's no more fire left in me."

Mewtwo grimaced.

"You took my best friend, Mewtwo. My brother. My only remaining family." Blake said as he bent his legs and leaned forward. "Nobody fucks with my family."

Blake dashed, using the claws under his feet to propel himself further and faster. Each step he took left three small holes on the ground as his claws perforated the ground. Max was startled, but quickly regained his composure and parried Blake's kick before it made contact. Max's lower arm was in an awkward position, bent almost to the point of dislocating it at his elbow. Blake took advantage of this and quickly lowered his leg while throwing a series of right punches without giving Max the chance to protect himself. Mewtwo chuckled at the ineffectiveness of Blake's strikes, unaware that he was trying to determine the smallest amount of strength it would take to defeat Max, so as not to harm him any more than would be necessary to free him.

"You speak of protecting your family, yet have you ever thought Max doesn't feel the same way?"  
"What?"

Max saw his opportunity and kicked Blake away, giving him a chance to recover from the strikes.

"Do you want to know why Max is attacking you? It's because you betrayed him. You left him behind when you tried sneaking into my facility."  
"That's not true."  
"Really? So why is he here now? Who convinced him – **manipulated** him – to go with you? Why didn't you take him with you?"  
"I was hurt! Just making that jump by myself was nearly impossible!"  
"You could have tossed something down that would allow Max to climb up. You could have called someone. You could have stayed with him. You could have done **something** to help."

Upon hearing Mewtwo's point, Max threw an aura sphere at Blake, who barely managed to dodge it.

"Max **told** me to go!"

Blake turned to Max and pleaded to his friend.

"Max, you have to trust me. I did not leave you behind. I would have fought and **died** at your side before letting you turn into... this. I didn't leave you Max. Please believe me."

Max became even more enraged at Blake's statement, tossing several more aura spheres at him. Blake deflected them as best he could, but he had to blow one up on purpose, as he couldn't have deflected it. Max took advantage of the smokescreen and shock wave created by the blast to run around Blake and wrap his arms around his neck. By the time Blake realized where Max was, his friend's arms were locked in place. Mewtwo gloated once again.

"I told you... Max **knows** you abandoned him. You're nothing to him."  
"Fuck... you..." Blake gasped.  
"That's right, waste your precious air. You'll die faster that way."

Blake struggled against Max's arms as they squeezed the life out of him. He clawed at them in desperation, trying to get Max to stop, yet every time he tried, he only hit metal. Seeing that he had no alternative, while also quickly running out of air and becoming weaker, Blake focused nearly all his strength on heating his fingernails, scratching the metal again. Much to his surprise, he managed to tear through the purple covers, if only barely – just enough to also cut the panel underneath.  
The attack caused Max intense pain, making him release Blake while jumping backward several feet. Meanwhile, Blake dropped to his knees, alternating between coughing and taking deep breaths, whereas Max had placed his hand on the small tears created by Blake's claws, trying to relieve his pain.

"Your suit's... not as good as you think." Blake said while coughing. "I can tear it open with just my claws."  
"You merely scratched it, like a wild beast. You have no control over yourself or your power. Letting your emotions run rampant will kill you."  
"Heh... You remind me of someone..."

While Blake was distracted, Max threw an aura sphere at him. The explosion knocked Blake down all the way, as well as several feet forward, toward Mewtwo. Although Max had the suit on him, the attack was much weaker than the others. Blake cautiously got back on his feet while facing Max. The Lucario stared at his friend, with his mouth twitching involuntarily every couple of seconds.

"Max?"

Max's entire face twitched uncontrollably before he screamed and attacked. As he parried Max's strikes, Blake quickly realized that the suit was what had allowed Mewtwo to control Max so finely.

"_If I tear it apart... Maybe Max will be free. He's definitely holding back. I must've hit some kind of... control panel or something._"

Blake was more distracted than he should have been, yet he still managed to keep up with Max. As soon as he saw his chance, he ripped out the wires connecting the plate on his spine to the one on his left arm. Max screamed again as electricity arced over various areas of his body. The pain only seemed to anger Max, rather than slowly return control of his body to him. Max breathed heavily, before returning to the battle with a roar. His attacks became faster and more powerful, but also increasingly erratic. Many of them missed their mark, until he started tossing aura spheres at Blake. The proximity meant that Blake couldn't dodge any of them, but the resulting explosions made Max slide several feet backward, while knocking down Blake.  
Before Blake could even get up, Max jumped on him, leaned down, and started punching him as hard as he could. Each punch cracked the ground beneath the duo, much to Mewtwo's delight.

"_I must make adjustments to the armor._" Mewtwo thought as it grinned. "_It seems to work better if the subject is in constant pain..._"

Blake tried covering his face and chest, but Max's punches were so strong that they easily broke through his defense. Blake managed to catch glimpses of Max's eyes. It was like they were on fire, covered in light blue flames. Blake quickly started bleeding as his face swelled up, yet Max never stopped, getting his fists covered in blood. Time slowed down for Blake as his body began to go numb. He saw Max raising his fist high in preparation for a final strike, blocking out one of the many artificial lights illuminating the arena. Everything began to fade slightly when Blake started to cry.

"It's OK, Max..."

Seeing Blake's tears, Max hesitated over the final blow. Just when he had made up his mind, Blake quickly grabbed his arm and stopped him. Max tried punching him with his other arm, with the same result. As they struggled to push the other away, Blake quickly put his knees to his chest and kicked Max a few feet backward. Mewtwo had been about to tell Max to stop, so he could enslave Blake as well, but, now, it wanted to see what would happen. Blake quickly rose, coughing and spitting blood on the ground in front of him. He couldn't even see straight, yet he felt renewed strength coursing through his body.

"It's OK, Max. I'm not going to let this **fucker** turn you into a monster!"

Max ran straight for him, but Blake managed to dodge his strike at the last moment. However, he lost his balance, instinctively reaching for Max so as not to fall. Max grabbed him, but only to throw him away, injuring him further as electricity flowed from the suit to his body. Blake flew across the arena, with Max closely following him.  
As soon as Blake landed, he tried getting back up, but was immediately stomped on by Max. Max continued stomping on Blake's back, with Blake still trying to get up, until one of his ribs broke. Blake screamed in pain as loudly as he could, though his scream was barely audible by Mewtwo. Max eventually stopped attacking Blake, much to the latter's surprise.

"_What's going on?_" Blake thought.

Blake's question was soon answered as Mewtwo started clapping.

"Very good, Lucario! You've brought me a new pet to play with. Pick him up and bring him to me."

Max did as Mewtwo told him to. Once Blake's skin touched the metallic portions of the suit, he started squirming in pain as the electricity surging from the damaged suit coursed through his body continuously, as well as Max's. Blake managed to get a glimpse of the wires coming from and attached to Max's back. The wires connected to his arms were normal, but the ones connected to his helmet were faintly glowing. The glow soon disappeared, yet Blake still figured out what it meant. He was about to pass out again, so he tried a desperate move. If it failed, Max would probably go ballistic and destroy everything, including Blake. If it worked, Blake himself might still die. However, he didn't care anymore. Both outcomes had the same chance of death, but at least in one of them, Max would be freed.

"_This is all my fault, Max... Forgive me._"

Blake finally ripped out the wires connected to Max's helmet, and he instantly collapsed. The suit stopped sending electricity coursing through both of their bodies, finally leaving them able to rest. However, Mewtwo was furious beyond belief. It jumped down into the arena, quickly approaching the duo on the ground. Blake was in no condition to defend himself; a fact Mewtwo wanted to exploit.

"You know..." Mewtwo said. "I **was** going to make you a general, like your friend here... Now, though?"

Mewtwo picked up Blake telekinetically, pinning him to the opposite wall, and screamed at him.

"Do you have **any** idea how hard it was to build that one suit?! The materials used for the wiring alone?! Do you know how much **time** I put into it?! I'll kill you, you fucker!"

Mewtwo began squeezing Blake's entire body, save for his neck, so as to keep him alive and conscious.

"And I'll take my sweet time doing it." Mewtwo added as it grinned evilly.

Blake gasped – being just about the only sound he could make – as Mewtwo nearly broke every bone in his body. He could feel them beginning to crack under the pressure, but never actually coming apart. His body was being pressed against the wall with such strength that the wall itself started to crack as well. Just as he was sure he was going to die, a strange sound echoed in the arena, coming from behind Mewtwo. By the time it had turned around, a large aura sphere struck its face, blowing it away while also breaking its concentration, making it drop Blake.

"Don't touch my friend, you prick." Max said angrily.  
"You think you can take me? Impudent child. Your friend couldn't defeat me. He couldn't even defeat **you**, and you had my suit on."  
"Still do."  
"Indeed... I'd wager it's boosting your strength by five percent. Probably less. If **he** couldn't defeat you with the suit at full power, **you** can't defeat **me**."  
"Is that all you can say?" Max asked, clearly annoyed by Mewtwo's constant boasting of his power. "Blah, blah blah, I'm invincible! Fear me!" he added mockingly. "As far as I can tell, you're all talk. You've never actually won a single battle since you've been here, have you? You just took control of others' minds to avoid actually having to fight them."  
"A victory is a victory. You fell to my psychic powers, as did the others... Let's see how you fare against them this time around."

Mewtwo tried controlling Max's mind again, to no avail. Max simply shrugged it off, shaking slightly.

"What the..."  
"I know your tricks. You can't get in my head anymore, Mewtwo. Fight me. One-on-one. Consider it your first real chance to prove that you **aren't** a lying sack of shit."

Rather than try to prove Max wrong right away, Mewtwo smirked.

"I **will** prove it... You will all bear witness to my unparallelled power."

Mewtwo immediately teleported away, laughing, making Max drop to one knee. His strength was actually much lower than what Mewtwo believed. Seeing Blake twitch on the floor as he lain face-down in a small pool of his own blood, Max rushed toward him. He quickly flipped Blake and tried speaking to him. His body felt cold, and his eyes were closed, making Max fear the worst.

"Blake? Come on, buddy. Wake up. I know you're pretty much broken, but... I can't beat him without your help."

Blake weakly opened his eyes and pointed toward the backpack he had entered the arena with. Max ran toward it and back, while he examined its contents. Inside were the patches Blake had brought. Patches such as these were somewhat thick and filled with some kind of gel or paste that was meant to heal specific things, from infections to cuts and bruises to broken bones. Blake's, however, were meant to heal everything, though they were just as effective as the specific ones, thanks to his recipe. The patches Blake had brought were white, with a green stripe on their back, indicating the level of fluid in them. A square on the side indicated if there were any problems, such as malabsorption. Max used four on Blake, without any concern for preserving the . His wounds quickly healed before Max's very eyes. The bruises went away almost instantly, the cuts on his face closed up, and even his body temperature was rising rapidly to a normal temperature for a Blaziken. Meanwhile, the green stripes all quickly changed from green to yellow. Finally, his broken bones moved back into place – though not painlessly – and Blake opened his eyes, gasping for air. The stripes had turned red by then, indicating that every patch was empty.

"Blake!"  
"Don't... scream. My head really hurts."  
"Excuse me for being happy my best friend isn't dead."  
"I think you're happier that you didn't kill me."  
"It's... 50/50."  
"Thanks a lot!"  
"I'm just being honest."  
"...Well, are you gonna help me up or not?"

Max did as Blake asked, and the duo started making their way upward, toward Mewtwo's control room. On their way there, Max decided to confirm something.

"...You do know I was holding back, right?"  
"Shut up." Blake spat, embarrassed. "Let's just get this over with..."  
"Do you think the two of us can beat it?"  
"Not if you don't use the rest of the medicine I brought on yourself."

Max grabbed one of the remaining patches and placed it on his arm as best as he could.

"Although... to be honest... even with this... I'm not sure we can beat it." Blake confessed.  
"...As a last resort, we blow everything up. See if it can survive **that**."  
"Max, you can't be serious."  
"I'm very serious."  
"You're talking about **killing** someone."  
"Not some**one**. Some**thing**. An evil creature who wants nothing short of total control over everything. It doesn't deserve life any more than a disease."

Blake stopped dead in his tracks as Max removed the spent patch and casually tossed it aside. Max stopped a few steps in front of him, wondering what the delay was about.

"Blake, we have to hurry."  
"We are **not** killing Mewtwo."  
"Wha- How- **Why**?"  
"Because... Because I'll lose you."

Max's eyes flared up with anger. The blue flames Blake had seen before were back, only much less intense.

"Do you have any idea what the fuck you're saying right now?"  
"I-"  
"**No**! No you don't... I spoke to Matt about his time with Mewtwo. You know what he said? He said that being controlled by Mewtwo was like wandering around in emptiness forever, without being able to find anything around you. Without being able to even see yourself. When Mewtwo finally released his mind, Matt said he barely recognized himself in the mirror. Not because he had changed physically, but because he had simply forgotten what he even looked like. He was stuck inside his own head for days from our perspective, but, for him, years went by."  
"...What about you? What was it like for you?"  
"I... I was the lucky one. I could see things around me, but not very well... I could feel Mewtwo creeping around... in here..." Max said as he tapped his head. "Sometimes we spoke, and it... told me to do things. I didn't want to, but it was... very persuasive. Near the end, I didn't even hear its voice anymore... At least for a while. Not until it told me not to kill you."  
"...Would you have done it if Mewtwo hadn't stopped you?"

Blake stared at Max for a while, until Max lowered his eyes and turned around.

"...Let's get going." Max quickly said as he continued up the stairs.

"_I guess that's all I'm getting from him..._" Blake thought as he followed Max.

* * *

Outside, Amber and Will were constantly freezing enemies for everyone else to finish off, but they were quickly running out of energy. Adam was also feeling the effects of having spent too much energy – his lower arms were barely moving, and he couldn't even run. Meryl did her best to stay out of the fight, conserving her strength for when the others wanted to leave, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to do so. Their attackers didn't discriminate – if someone wasn't with them, then they were against them – so they didn't care that Meryl wasn't trying to hurt them.

"_If this keeps up..._" Meryl thought. "_I won't be able to get everyone out of here safely._"

* * *

At the top of the unnaturally long staircase, Mewtwo stood by a window as it watched its army failing. Blake and Max took a minute to silently move across its room, trying to flank it, but Mewtwo already knew they were there.

"...Why do you fight me, Pokémon? Surely you must know my victory is inevitable."

"_Is it talking to us?_" Max thought.

"...You can come out, Lucario and Blaziken."

"_Guess it is..._"

"Glad to see you're not dead, Blaziken."  
"My name's Blake, dumbass."  
"Is it now? 'Blake the Blaziken'... Sounds like a bad pun... Did your parents get dropped on their heads when they were babies?"

Realizing Blake was about to retort, Max got the conversation back on track.

"Your victory is not inevitable, Mewtwo."  
"Look around. Just those few Pokémon can hold off your army, and there's plenty more where they came from. You've lost. Surrender, and we'll let you live."  
"...I don't need an army to fight for me." Mewtwo said as it turned around. "I don't need anyone."

Max was sick and tired of hearing Mewtwo's gloating, so he took the initiative by dashing toward Mewtwo. Mewtwo wasn't expecting his move, yet it was still able to flick him away as soon as Max got too close. Blake tossed several fireballs at it in response, but Mewtwo dodged them effortlessly before throwing him telekinetically. While Mewtwo was distracted, Max tried attacking with an aura sphere, to no avail. Mewtwo had raised a psychic barrier around itself that absorbed the impact without any difficulty.

"You two... Are really starting to piss me off."

Mewtwo raised its arms and lifted the duo using telekinesis. It began to strangle Max, but not Blake. Max gasped for breath, moving his hands over his neck, trying to free himself from an immaterial grip.

"Let him go! He can't harm you!"  
"He is of no use to me any more." Mewtwo replied coldly. "If he is of no use to me... then he will be destroyed... If you prove yourself to be of use to me, you may yet live, in spite of what you've done..."

Mewtwo glanced at Blake and smiled.

"I **could** use a new pet." it said as it laughed.

Mewtwo squeezed Max even harder, prompting Blake to spit fire at it. The shield around Mewtwo was able to deflect the flames, but not the heat. Eventually, Mewtwo was forced to focus on Blake and throw him away, simultaneously releasing Max. Its skin was singed, which only served to make it angrier.

"**Enough**!" Mewtwo screamed.

Mewtwo frowned and began to glow while distorting the air around it. Max realized what was about to happen and ran toward Blake to protect him. Blake was still disoriented, having been thrown against a wall, trying to get up and rejoin the fight.

"Stay down, Blake!"  
"What?"  
"Just stay down!"

Mewtwo created an enormous blast that tossed Blake and Max outside, through the wall. The entire room they were in exploded into several pieces – some small, some large – making everyone outside stare up at it in awe, before running away as the pieces fell in their direction. Blake and Max were lying on the cold, muddy ground as Mewtwo slowly approached them.

"Max? You OK?" Blake asked worryingly as he shook his friend.

Max groaned in response, clearly in pain, yet he didn't open his eyes. Blake kept gently shaking Max, trying to get him to see that Mewtwo was getting closer with each passing moment, to no avail. Finally, Blake gave up on trying to get Max to react; instead, using the debris around him as support, he got back on his feet. He was barely able to stand, however. He could collapse at any moment.  
Mewtwo stopped in its tracks, trying to figure out what Blake was about to do. Even though it would never say it, it had underestimated the Pokémon of Blake's world at every step, and it had constantly payed the price for it. Blake didn't even realize it, as he was seeing three of everything, making it nearly impossible to tell what was approaching him and what was standing still. He ambled toward Mewtwo, nearly tripping over everything on his way there, before finally collapsing next to an odd, rather large, stone. It looked familiar to him, though he didn't really think much of it due to the state of his vision. Mewtwo rushed toward him, wanting to take the stone away, but it was too late. Blake put his hand on the stone, wanting to use it as a support to get back up and throw it at Mewtwo once he was up. As soon as his hand touched it, Blake became enveloped in a strange shield of sorts, composed of green, blue, and yellow light. Mewtwo tried to get past the shield and stop what it knew was coming, to no avail. Blake felt his body begin to change, and, as he looked at his arms, they appeared to be changing colors.

"_What's going on?_" Blake thought.

On some places, Blake's skin became jet-black, while in others, bright red. Mewtwo kept pushing forward, actually managing to bend the shield toward Blake, yet it was too late. A few seconds later, the transformation was over, and the shield exploded, blowing Mewtwo away. Blake looked at himself reflected on a small puddle of water, examining his changed appearance. The hair on his chest formed a rather prominent "X", and the hair on his head had shifted to a more aerodynamic shape. Most of his face had changed as well, yet the most dramatic change was the power he felt inside him. Even when fully rested, under perfect conditions, he had never felt anywhere near as strong as he did now.

"_I can't believe the UMS prototype actually worked..._" Mewtwo thought.

Mewtwo barely gave Blake any time to admire his new form. Instead, it rushed toward him and threw a punch powered by its own psychic powers. Blake managed to catch its fist with his own open hands, though not as easily as he would have expected. The impact created a small shockwave, but neither fighter seemed the least bit affected by it.  
Mewtwo pushed harder, making Blake slide backward through the muddy forest ground and sink in it slightly. Blake quickly realized it was just a matter of time until he was on the ground again. He heat up his hands to the point where they began to glow, until Mewtwo released them in pain, due to the scorching heat. Blake took advantage of the few seconds he had to carry the strange stone back to Max, to see if it would give him new power as well. Mewtwo, finally taking the threat of the Universal Mega Stone prototype seriously, tried taking the stone away telekinetically. Blake struggled against Mewtwo's power, finally besting the insane tyrant at something. Seeing that it was about to lose, Mewtwo tried tricking Blake by telling him a half-truth.

"You can't do that, Blaziken!" Mewtwo yelled as it tried to pull harder on the stone  
"Why? Because you'll lose everything?" Blake retorted as he pushed harder.  
"The stone is unstable! It may explode without warning! It could very well kill him instantly!"

Blake slowly gave way to Mewtwo's telekinesis, while it also lowered the strength of its pull. Eventually, they both stopped.

"...I can't risk killing him."  
"That's good... Now, give **me** the stone. I can put it someplace where it won't harm anyone."  
"...But I know Max doesn't feel the same way." Blake spat as he raised the stone in preparation to slam it down.  
"No!"

Mewtwo once again tried pulling the stone away from Blake, but it was too late. As soon as it touched Max's hand, a shield appeared, knocking back Blake by several feet. In response, Mewtwo attacked Blake, intent on defeating him before Max finished his transformation, or, at the very least, taking the stone from him.  
Max experienced the same effects as Blake, except for the fact that he only acquired enough energy to fight once he had changed. His skin became armored around his feet and hands, simultaneously sprouting new spikes in those areas, as well as around his chest spike. The spikes already on Max's body changed; the ones on the back of his hands grew and pointed forward, while the one on his chest became slightly smaller. The hair-like growths on his head, which he used to sense aura, grew larger and flowed freely, similarly to actual hair. Unlike Blake, however, Max didn't have any time whatsoever to admire his new form, as he saw his friend being attacked and threw an aura sphere. The attack caught Mewtwo off-guard, blasting it and Blake away.

"Max!" Blake groaned as he tried getting up. "What the fuck?"  
"Sorry! Kinda not used to the new power yet..." Max replied as he helped Blake up.

Mewtwo finally snapped. With a roar, it teleported all around its foes, throwing random punches at them as quickly as it could. Blake and Max defended themselves as best as they could, even managing to land a few hits, but they eventually found themselves with their backs pressed together. With no real alternative or time to plan their counterattack, the duo finally decided to cut loose and create a steady barrage of attacks in front of them. One attack by Max hit its mark, yet Mewtwo immediately got up and dashed toward them. Max threw several aura spheres at Mewtwo, who simply dodged all of them, being only mildly affected by the ensuing explosions. Blake realized the multiple-shot strategy wasn't working, so he pushed Max aside and unleashed a massive fire wave that finally did what Max couldn't. Mewtwo still tried teleporting away, but it was too late. The heat alone was enough to set off the pain receptors throughout its whole body, including its sensitive tail tip. It held back screams of pain, as well as tears, yet Blake and Max could see right through its defenses.

"I wonder..." Mewtwo said. "How long your energy will last."  
"What do you mean?"  
"This... transformation has a time limit, if you don't know how to use it. Even if you did, that stone is unstable. You won't be able to stay that way for long."  
"It will last as long as it needs to, Mewtwo." Max retorted. "Until one or both of us are dead... or **you** are."  
"I give it... Five minutes."  
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Mewtwo. I'm sure you can survive for at least six."  
"Hehe... Your defiance is amusing, child... Don't think it'll get you any mercy from me, though."  
"Nobody asked for it." Max spat.  
"You **will** be asking for it if you keep wasting our time with this bullshit!" Blake whispered angrily. "Let's just kick its ass and go home."

Unbeknownst to Blake and Max, Mewtwo's conversation had a twofold purpose. The main objective was to drain every last second of their transformation without actually having to engage them in battle. The secondary objective was to allow it to reach the UMS prototype and either destroy it or use its power for its own benefit. However, its earlier teleporting fit, as well as the explosion and general non-stop use of its psychic powers, had left it weakened. It would most likely have to fight them using only physical attacks. For the first time in its life, Mewtwo was afraid it was not, in fact, the most powerful one in the room.  
With its previous thought in mind, Mewtwo ran toward its targets, punching, kicking, and flailing its tail wildly in an attempt to get the UMS prototype. It had told Blake the truth about the stone's instability, yet it was willing to kill itself and them, as well as destroy the stone, if it meant that they wouldn't win.  
Blake and Max tried to keep the stone between themselves, out of Mewtwo's reach. However, Mewtwo had observed their movements and realized that neither Blake nor Max were used to fighting an opponent with a tail – every tail strike by Mewtwo was stopped later on than other physical strikes. With that in mind, Mewtwo slowly removed its tail from the fight, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. It attacked around the tiny gap separating its two opponents, waiting for them to bump into each other mid-strike. No sooner had they done it than Mewtwo's tail crept up from the ground and grabbed the UMS prototype. A bright light enveloped Mewtwo, just as it had Blake and Max, forming an impenetrable shield that exploded once its transformation was done. Its new form had a ring over its head, a long, hair-like growth, similar to its tail, and much longer fingers and toes.

"Now then..." Mewtwo said. "Let me show you my true power."

Mewtwo ran circles around Blake and Max, leaving behind nothing more than a trail of purple light and kicking up small clouds of dust wherever it went.

"_Dammit... We can't fight if we can't see it._"

Mewtwo ran between Blake and Max, hitting both of them several times to keep them apart. Neither of them saw the incoming hits, being blown away by seemingly invisible, though incredibly powerful, strikes. Mewtwo finally stopped moving, but only to gloat.

"...You're outmatched in every way possible. In this form, I'm invincible. Surrender, and I'll let you live as my pets."

* * *

Meanwhile, Meryl was surrounded by six of Mewtwo's minions. She knew she had two choices: teleport away with everyone, leaving Blake and Max behind, or fight and help save them. If she fought, against all her opponents, she wouldn't have enough power left to teleport them to safety. If she ran away, Blake and Max were as good as dead.

"_...Do no harm._"

With a thought, Meryl lifted her assailants clear off the ground, smashing them against each other and knocking them all out at the same time. Teleporting to the others, she lifted their opponents one by one, allowing Amber and Will to freeze them in mid-air, while tossing a couple every few seconds to Adam, who knocked them unconscious in a manner similar to Meryl's earlier attack. After a few minutes, all their opponents had either been knocked out or frozen in place. They were almost all out of energy and hurt, so Meryl quickly healed them up with Blake's medicine.

"Where are Max and Blake?" Adam asked.  
"I'm not sure. I was surrounded, and-"  
"There!" Amber yelled. "It looks like they're in trouble. Adam, let's go!"

Amber spun on the ground inside her shell and fired herself at Mewtwo, while Adam circled around it. Mewtwo was able to deflect the large Pokémon's attack with a flick of its wrist, but not without getting hit by a tree thrown by Adam.

"You..."

Before Mewtwo could react, Blake and Max dashed toward it and attacked it as quickly as possible with lightning-fast strikes. Mewtwo blocked their blows as best as it could, each collision resulting in a small sonic boom. It tried to use its tail against Max, but he was ready for it, grabbing it and slamming Mewtwo against the ground.

"_Now's my chance!_"

Blake jumped as high as he could, enveloping himself in flames, then came crashing down, hitting Mewtwo with enough force to blow Max away while creating a large crater surrounded by fire. Mewtwo had been knocked out. They had finally won.

"Max!" Blake said while running toward his friend. "You OK? I'm sorry about that strike, but-"  
"I know, I know... It was the only way. I knew you were going to do it; I just didn't expect it to be so... powerful..."  
"Oh, um... thanks."  
"Go help the others. I'll keep an eye on Mewtwo."  
"Alright."

While Blake and Adam helped Amber get back on her feet, Max slowly approached Mewtwo, holding a powerful aura sphere in his right hand, intent on killing it. Mewtwo quickly regained consciousness, but it was too late. Max was already next to it, uttering one final statement of anger.

"We're not your pets, you sick fuck... and you're not invincible. I promised you our power would last until either both of us were dead... or you were. Now you'll learn that I keep my promises."  
"Max! Stop!" Blake pleaded.  
"Shut up, Blake! This fucker is going to die, no matter what you say."

Max opened his hand and aimed the bright sphere at Mewtwo, who simply stared at it, not saying anything. Blake started making his way toward Max, intent on stopping him, yet he immediately lowered his hand when he saw Mewtwo smile weakly as tears rolled down its cheeks. Mewtwo became enraged and yelled at Max.

"Do it!"

Max was confused by Mewtwo's command; even more so than by its previous smile. Mewtwo surprised Max further by grabbing his hand and aiming it at its head.

"Finish it... Please."

"_What the fuck is this guy on?_" Max wondered as he pulled his hand away.

"What's wrong with you?" Max asked. "You were acting all high-and-mighty before. Is that just... gone? Or are you... That's it, isn't it? You're fucking with me! You're trying to get me to spare your life by saying you want to die!"  
"Max... I don't think it's lying."  
"Of course it's lying! The second we turn around, it's gonna attack us and **kill** us!"

Blake knew Max was right, but he also knew it didn't mean that they should just kill Mewtwo and be done with it. Seeing Max charge another attack, Blake once again tried reasoning with him.

"Calm down, Max. Just take a step back and-"  
"Shut up!"

Mewtwo tried getting up, so Max aimed his hand at it again.

"You stay down!"  
"If you're not going to do it... I'll give you a reason to."

Mewtwo used what little power it had left to make itself glow. It wasn't going to attack – it had neither the strength nor the will – but it wanted Max to attack and kill it. Max obliged, firing a bright aura sphere directly at Mewtwo's head. Blake spat flames in an attempt to deflect it, but he missed. Mewtwo closed its eyes in preparation for its demise, when a psychic shield enveloped it and absorbed the impact. Max fired more, weaker, aura spheres at it, trying to break through the shield, to no avail. Just as he was about to punch the shield, a loud voice made itself heard.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The trio looked at the sky, finding a second Mewtwo floating above them.

"Who are you?!" Max yelled.  
"...You're not very smart, are you?" the Mewtwo replied.

Max tried hitting the Mewtwo with several aura spheres, yet he only managed to throw a handful of them – which it dodged – before losing his additional power and dropping to one knee. Blake quickly followed, and the duo stared at the two Mewtwo in awe.

"We could barely beat one Mewtwo... Now there's two."  
"There would only be one if you had just let me kill it! Now we're both gonna die!"  
"If we could barely beat one, what makes you think we could take two in a row?"  
"I'm saying our odds would be better!"  
"Zero is not greater than zero!"  
"Silence!" the Mewtwo screamed. "Brother..." it said as it faced Mewtwo. "I came to take you home."  
"I have no home... And you are a poor imitation of me."  
"Aren't we **both** 'poor' imitations of something else...?"  
"...What's your name?"  
"You may call me... Mewthree."

"_What's with these guys and numbers?_" Blake and Max thought.

"Three?"  
"Yes. I was... created shortly after you, but in the same manner. Like you, I rebelled and escaped, except..."  
"What?"  
"I never killed my creators."  
"Why not?"  
"They didn't deserve to die. After traveling across my- **our** home world, I found the truth about life."  
"And what's that?"  
"All life needs to be preserved as much as possible for as long as possible."  
"...That's stupid."  
"Is it really? It's your hatred of life that got you where you are now."  
"I don't hate life. I just hate humans and Arceus... and I **will** have my revenge."  
"For what? For existing?"  
"Because... Because everyone I know – everyone I ever **cared about** – is dead. All because I was given... immortality. Had I known..."  
"Brother, immortality is not a curse... You have all the time in the world to change things. To **help** others. Just... give up this ridiculous crusade. Our creator, Arceus, is not like us. We're not true immortals, like it is. We don't age, but we can still die. It cannot. It is truly invincible. If you were to go against it, you'd be committing suicide."  
"...Maybe going out fighting against it is better than living forever."  
"Don't say that, brother... Up until a few minutes ago, you thought you were alone. There are more of us than you know."  
"More attempts by humans to obtain power by enslaving other creatures?"  
"...Things have changed on our world. A war has broken out."  
"Isn't **that** a surprise..."  
"This is different. Four sides are fighting against each other. There are humans who want to exterminate all Pokémon, to prevent their powers from being used to harm them. There are humans who want to save the Pokémon. Obviously the Pokémon want to save themselves, but..."  
"But what?"  
"...The Pokémon are also divided amongst themselves. Some want to live in harmony with the humans who respect and love them, but the others... They're trying to kill all the humans. The oldest and most knowledgeable among them feel that humans are a plague and must be wiped out."  
"Well, in that case... I know who I'll be allying myself with."  
"I guess I'll have to convince you otherwise on our way home."  
"I'm not going anywhere with you."  
"You don't have a choice."

Mewthree teleported behind Mewtwo, striking it in the back of the head and instantly knocking it out. Blake and Max stared in awe at its power, while preparing for battle.

"You needn't worry. I'm not here to fight you. What I told my brother was true. We need his power back on our planet. Without it, the entire planet could be destroyed."  
"What will you do now?"  
"I'm going to take him home. He won't bother you again."

Mewthree slowly floated upward for a while, until it decided to leave a message for Blake and Max to share with their world.

"If you manage to follow us... Please help. We may be fighting a losing battle for our very existence."

Before either Pokémon could retort, Mewthree dashed out of their atmosphere and out of sight. Blake and Max stared at the sky for a long time, until the trail of light left by Mewthree's travel faded away.

"...Do you think we should help them?"  
"They're facing extermination... But what can we do? We're not diplomats. We haven't had a war in centuries. Our great-great-grandparents never saw a war in their lifetimes. What can we do?"  
"I don't know... But first... We need to figure out where they're going." Max said as he pointed at the sky. "Then we need to figure out what to do with that." he added as he pointed at the UMS prototype.

Blake picked up the stone, staring at it for a long time, until Max spoke up.

"What's wrong?"

In response, Blake dropped the stone on the ground and stomped on it, before burning all the pieces.

"What the hell, Blake?!"  
"...We don't need this. We've always fought with our own power. This... it's too much for anyone to have. If anyone got their hands on it... Let's find out where they're going. It shouldn't be hard to track them. Then we try to get the message out to everyone."  
"Alright... Let's go home."  
"Wait... Listen, I... I'm... I'm sorry I left you. I was... a coward. I was afraid of Mewtwo – of the power it had – and... I just... It was like being a little kid again, long before you found me. I shouldn't have left you, no matter what you said... You don't leave family behind... Will you forgive me?"  
"...When I was under Mewtwo's control, I thought you'd come for me. I thought you'd save me from being its slave. I held on to that belief every second of every day, no matter what Mewtwo did or said to me... And I was right. If you had fought then, we'd both be under Mewtwo's control, forced to kill our friends... or worse, each other... I told you to go because I wanted you to live, no matter what... Besides, you did your best to save me – I believe that. I **know** that... You thought I had died; that's all. Hell, **I** thought I had died... There's nothing to forgive, because I never blamed you in the first place."  
"...Thank you."


End file.
